phlogiston
International Hazard
Posts: 1376
Registered: 26-4-2008
Location: Neon Thorium Erbium Lanthanum Neodymium Sulphur
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Neanderthals used MnO2 to help ignite fires
Archeologists found that adding a little manganese dioxide to wood lowers its ignition temperature and suggest that the blocks of mineral MnO2 found
near neanderthal campfires in a cave in France were used for that purpose:
http://www.nature.com/articles/srep22159
Pretty interesting. Previously they were thought to be used as a brown pigment.
I have some doubt that people experienced with starting a fire would need this method, but if true it seems surprisingly advanced.
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"If a rocket goes up, who cares where it comes down, that's not my concern said Wernher von Braun" - Tom Lehrer |
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Mabus
Wiki Master
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Registered: 3-11-2013
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For a moment I thought this was about morons starting forest fires with MnO2. 
Glad it wasn't the case.
Anyway, this is a very interesting discovery, I wonder how come this method isn't used around places that have easy access to manganese ore.
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