Captioned: "He rubbed two pieces of dry wood one against the other, or turned round and round with great rapidity a stick sharpened to a point, having placed the end of it in a hole made in the trunk of a very dry tree." The control of fire by early humans was a turning point in human evolution that allowed humans to cook food and obtain warmth and protection. Making fire also allowed the expansion of human activity into the dark and colder hours of the night, and provided protection from predators and insects. Evidence of widespread control of fire dates to approximately 125,000 years ago and earlier. Evidence of fire use came from the discovery of Stone Age flint tools, which were used for scraping and cutting meat. The Stone Age spanned from about 3.4 million years ago to about 6000 BC and was marked by widespread use of stone tools, the earliest form of manmade technology. Caption excerpted from "Primitive Man" by Louis Figuier, 1871. This image has been color-enhanced.