# Cooking May Have Created Homo Erectus by Richard Wrangham > “Cooked food has so many important biological effects that its adoption should be clearly marked in the fossil record by signals of a reduced digestive system and increased energy use. While such signs are clear at the origin of Homo erectus, they are not found later in human evolution. The match between the biological merits of cooked food and the evolutionary changes in Homo erectus is thus so obvious that except for a scientific obstacle, I believe it would have been noticed long ago. The obstacle is the insistence of archaeologists that the control of fire is not firmly evidenced before about a quarter of a million years ago. As a result of this archaeological caution, the idea that humans could have used fire before about 250,000 to 500,000 years ago has long been sidelined.” > **— Richard Wrangham**, *2008, Edge Annual Question, “What Have You Changed Your Mind About? Why?”* ## Sources and Context - **Direct Edge response and surrounding essay:** [The Human Recipe](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/10795) — Edge published this exact passage in its 2008 Annual Question collection, *WHAT HAVE YOU CHANGED YOUR MIND ABOUT? WHY?*. The response page preserves the surrounding argument and qualifications. - **Complete local collection index:** [[research/Edge 2008 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2008 Full Quotation Curation]] — retained source-first record for the complete response cohort and this passage's promotion status. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|Valley Roots]] - **Article:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism]] - **Article:** [[articles/We Were Never Going to Make It|Never Going to Make It!]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Evolutionary Biology|Evolutionary Biology]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Evolutionary Biology|Evolutionary Biology]] - [[wiki/Richard Wrangham|Richard Wrangham]] - [[wiki/Gene-Culture Coevolution|Gene-Culture Coevolution]] - [[wiki/Cultural Evolution|Cultural Evolution]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Cooked food has so many important biological effects that its adoption should be clearly marked in the fossil record by signals of a reduced digestive system and increased energy use. While such signs are clear at the origin of Homo erectus, they are not found later in human evolution. The match between the biological merits of cooked food and the evolutionary changes in Homo erectus is thus so obvious that except for a scientific obstacle, I believe it would have been noticed long ago. The obstacle is the insistence of archaeologists that the control of fire is not firmly evidenced before about a quarter of a million years ago. As a result of this archaeological caution, the idea that humans could have used fire before about 250,000 to 500,000 years ago has long been sidelined.” — Richard Wrangham, 2008, Edge Annual Question, “What Have You Changed Your Mind About? Why?” https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-richard-wrangham-cooking-created-homo-erectus ```