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Scientists have found that early humans in Europe were making fires 250,000 years ago, which is 50,000 years earlier than had been previously assumed.

New evidence gathered in Spain shows the remains of fires being arranged in a way that lead the researchers to believe the fires didn't happen naturally.

Experts say human evolution was incredibly influenced by the discovery of fire.

"This is important because our species is defined by our use of fire." said Dr Gill who was part of the archaeological team behind the find.

Dr Clayton Magill, an assistant professor at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, explained: "We have found definitive evidence of things being burnt and those remains are organised into a pattern, suggesting it's humans who are making and controlling the fire.

"Either they were using the fire to cook or to defend themselves.

"The spatial patterning in the fire tells us that they were encircling something, like a home or sleeping area, a living room or kitchen, or an enclosure for animals."

The scientists worked at an archaeological site near Madrid, the capital of Spain, called Valdocarros II.

"Being able to cook food to feed our big brains is one of the things that made us so successful in an evolutionary sense," said Dr McGill.

"Fire also brings protection and fosters communication and family connection."

Ancient fire starters

This is not the earliest evidence of humans using fire around the world, though.

In Israel, evidence of human-made fires has been found from 790,000 years ago.

But South Africa so far has the earliest evidence to date - scientists found evidence of fires made by humans there from a whopping 1.5 million years ago.