Pyrite's extreme rarity in the local area – it was not present in a database of 33,000 samples from Barnham – strongly suggested it had been sourced from chalky coastal outcrops tens of kilometres away and brought to the area for use as a fire striker. "It's incredible that some of the oldest groups of Neanderthals had the knowledge of the properties of flint, pyrite and tinder at such an early date," said Ashton.
Geochemical tests also showed that a patch of reddened clay had been heated to temperatures of over 700C (1,292F) with repeated fire-use in the same location of the site. Together, this strongly suggested that a campfire, or hearth, that had been used by people on several occasions, according to the paper published in Nature...
