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Onset of extensive human fire use 50,000 y ago

Jiang, Shoushu ; Zhao, Debo ; Kaboth-Bahr, Stefanie ; Beaufort, Luc ; Tu, Hua ; Lu, Zhengyao LU orcid ; Cheng, Zhongjing ; Zhang, Shanjia ; Zhong, Yi and Hao, Xiudong , et al. (2025) In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 122(27).
Abstract

Fire is a pivotal aspect of human involvement in the carbon cycle. However, the precise timing of the large-scale human fire use remains uncertain. Here, we report a pyrogenic carbon record of East Asian fire history over the past 300,000 y from the East China Sea. This record suggests a rapid increase in fire activity since approximately 50,000 y ago, indicating a decoupling from the monsoon climate, and this pattern is consistent with fire histories in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Papua New Guinea-Australia regions. By integrating extensive archaeological data, we propose that the intensified global expansion of modern human and population growth, coupled with the rising demand for fire use during cold glacial periods, resulted in a... (More)

Fire is a pivotal aspect of human involvement in the carbon cycle. However, the precise timing of the large-scale human fire use remains uncertain. Here, we report a pyrogenic carbon record of East Asian fire history over the past 300,000 y from the East China Sea. This record suggests a rapid increase in fire activity since approximately 50,000 y ago, indicating a decoupling from the monsoon climate, and this pattern is consistent with fire histories in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Papua New Guinea-Australia regions. By integrating extensive archaeological data, we propose that the intensified global expansion of modern human and population growth, coupled with the rising demand for fire use during cold glacial periods, resulted in a significant increase in fire utilization from 50,000 y onward. This suggests that a measurable human imprint on the carbon cycle via fire likely predates the Last Glacial Maximum.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
East Asian monsoon, human dispersal, human fire use, IODP, pyrogenic carbon
in
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
volume
122
issue
27
article number
e2500042122
publisher
National Academy of Sciences
external identifiers
  • pmid:40549892
  • scopus:105009658071
ISSN
0027-8424
DOI
10.1073/pnas.2500042122
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ad9d684b-fa2e-40b1-9517-cec264d5b6f9
date added to LUP
2025-12-12 14:05:36
date last changed
2026-01-09 17:12:17
@article{ad9d684b-fa2e-40b1-9517-cec264d5b6f9,
  abstract     = {{<p>Fire is a pivotal aspect of human involvement in the carbon cycle. However, the precise timing of the large-scale human fire use remains uncertain. Here, we report a pyrogenic carbon record of East Asian fire history over the past 300,000 y from the East China Sea. This record suggests a rapid increase in fire activity since approximately 50,000 y ago, indicating a decoupling from the monsoon climate, and this pattern is consistent with fire histories in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Papua New Guinea-Australia regions. By integrating extensive archaeological data, we propose that the intensified global expansion of modern human and population growth, coupled with the rising demand for fire use during cold glacial periods, resulted in a significant increase in fire utilization from 50,000 y onward. This suggests that a measurable human imprint on the carbon cycle via fire likely predates the Last Glacial Maximum.</p>}},
  author       = {{Jiang, Shoushu and Zhao, Debo and Kaboth-Bahr, Stefanie and Beaufort, Luc and Tu, Hua and Lu, Zhengyao and Cheng, Zhongjing and Zhang, Shanjia and Zhong, Yi and Hao, Xiudong and Pei, Wenqiang and Cui, Guangqiang and Yang, Yifei and Lin, Anni and Huang, Jie and Wan, Shiming}},
  issn         = {{0027-8424}},
  keywords     = {{East Asian monsoon; human dispersal; human fire use; IODP; pyrogenic carbon}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{27}},
  publisher    = {{National Academy of Sciences}},
  series       = {{Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}},
  title        = {{Onset of extensive human fire use 50,000 y ago}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2500042122}},
  doi          = {{10.1073/pnas.2500042122}},
  volume       = {{122}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}