People widely believed that the controlled use of fire originated 200, 000 years ago with the human species Homo sapiens  However, a site containing a deposit, estimated to be nearly 500, 000 years old, consisting of charcoal, burned animal bones, and charred rocks, has recently been found
Although homo sapiens did not exist at that time, this discovery provides no basis to the claim that the controlled use of fire preceded the Homo sapiens, since
It is impossible to determine whether a charred deposit dating from so long ago resulted from a fire caused by lightening or from the purposeful use of fire