Thanks to breakthrough technologies, there is no dearth of advanced cooking modes in today’s world. From gas stove and induction cooktop to microwave oven, OTG, and more - we can prepare different types of dishes in our own kitchen. But before these came into being, all that people needed to prepare food was fire. While it is known that the earliest evidence of cooking dates back to about 170,000 years, a recent study claims that it was around 7,80,000 years ago when humans first used fire to cook food. And apparently, it all started in Israel.
According to an ANI report, the scientific study was conducted by researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU), Tel Aviv University (TAU), and Bar-Ilan University (BIU), in collaboration with the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Oranim Academic College, the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research (IOLR) institution, the Natural History Museum in London, and the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz. The findings were published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.
The discovery was made after a close analysis of the remains of a carp-like fish found at the Gesher Benot Ya'aqov (GBY) archaeological site in Israel. It was found that "the fish was cooked roughly 780,000 years ago". The study demonstrated the importance of fish in the life of prehistoric humans, for their diet and economic stability, the researchers said. They further revealed that the large quantity of fish remains found at the site proves that it was one of the major sources of diet for the people back then.
The researchers analysed the pharyngeal teeth of the carp fish. And after studying the structure, they concluded that the fish caught at the ancient Hula Lake, adjacent to the site, were exposed to high temperatures, suitable only for cooking, and were not simply burned by a spontaneous fire.
"Gaining the skill required to cook food marks a significant evolutionary advance, as it provides an additional means for making optimal use of available food resources. It is even possible that cooking was not limited to fish, but also included various types of animals and plants," the study added.