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Homo erectus is widely believed to be the first human species to leave Africa, expanding into parts of Europe and Asia. They were also the first to control and use fire. In this episode, we speak with Josephine Joordens and Irit Zohar to explore these early time periods, approximately 2 million years ago. We delve into when and how hominins first developed an interest in aquatic resources, the transformative impact of cooking fish, and why a stable, year-round food source like fish was crucial for hominin survival and their dispersal across the globe.

Key Places

Gesher Benot Ya’aqov

Key Hominins

Homo erectus

Key People

• Irit Zohar
• Josephine Joordens

For more reading:

• Zohar, I., Alperson-Afil, N., Goren-Inbar, N. et al.Evidence for the cooking of fish 780,000 years ago at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel. Nat Ecol Evol 6, 2016–2028 (2022). 
• Joordens, J., d’Errico, F., Wesselingh, F. et al. Homo erectus at Trinil on Java used shells for tool production and engraving. Nature 518, 228–231 (2015). 
• Joordens, Josephine CA, et al. "Relevance of aquatic environments for hominins: a case study from Trinil (Java, Indonesia)." Journal of Human Evolution 57.6 (2009): 656-671.