Researchers believe they've uncovered ancient evidence that early human ancestors used fire in an African cave — pushing back the timeline by hundreds of thousands of years.The discovery, made at a cave in South Africa called Wonderwerk Cave, was announced in a June 24 press release from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.Wonderwerk Cave is located in South Africa's Kalahari Desert, roughly 90 miles from the Botswana border.ANCIENT HANDPRINTS SUGGEST HUMANS WERE THINKING SYMBOLICALLY THOUSANDS OF YEARS EARLIER THAN SCIENCE TAUGHTAt the site, researchers found evidence that early human ancestors used fire in the cave as many as 1.79 million years ago — pushing back the timeline for one of the earliest known records of fire use by hominins.In 2012, researchers at Wonderwerk Cave reported what was then considered the world's oldest known evidence of intentional fire use, dating to about 1 million years ago.Researchers say new evidence from South Africa's Wonderwerk Cave suggests that early human ancestors were using fire as far back as 1.79 million years ago.(The Africa Image Library via Alamy)In a study published recently in the journal PLOS One, researchers described using a new technique to identify evidence of burning in fossilized bones.At the site, researchers also found evidence of owl pellets being used as fuel, as well as burned animal bones nearly 100 feet inside the cave.WORLD'S OLDEST POISONED ARROWHEADS WERE COATED WITH TOXINS FROM DEADLY ONION-LIKE PLANT, RESEARCHERS SAY"Using a newly developed technique that can detect signs of burning in fossilized bones, researchers identified repeated evidence of fire deep inside the cave," the university said in a statement."Because these traces were found far beyond the reach of natural wildfires, the findings suggest that early humans were deliberately bringing naturally occurring fire into the cave and keeping it burning."Evidence uncovered at Wonderwerk Cave, pictured above, could push back one of the earlie...