Early humans used fire to permanently change the landscape tens of thousands of years ago in Stone Age Africa

Fields of rust-colored soil, spindly cassava, small farms and villages dot the landscape. Dust and smoke blur the mountains visible beyond massive Lake Malawi. Here in tropical Africa, you can’t escape the signs of human presence.
How far back in time would you need to go in this place to discover an entirely natural environment?
Our work has shown that it would be a very long time indeed – at least 85,000 years, eight times earlier than the world’s first land transformations via agriculture.
Early humans used fire to permanently change the landscape tens of thousands of years ago in Stone Age Africa