Earlier this month I mentioned that biological anthropologist Richard Wrangham estimates hominins tamed fire and started cooking with it 1.8 million years ago.
A recent article at Slate reviews the debate among anthropologists. Some respected authorities date our mastery of fire from 12,000 to 400,000 years ago.
I don’t know the answer, but I’d wager it was much earlier than 12,000 years ago.
The article suggesting hominids hunted for meat as early as 1.5 million years ago is somewhat supportive of the Wrangham’s hypothesis.