Starting a fire led to advancements such as cooking, which unlocked nutrients that improved the size and cognition of the Neanderthal brain. Though scientists have always had suspicions that the emergence of fire made by hominins went further back in time than geologic records indicated, this is the first hard evidence. There are two archaeological assemblages at the Barnham site, but the second one where most of the heated materials associated with fire were discovered. Despite the stereotypes of Neanderthal brain capacity, this dietary shift is thought to have not only increased brain size, but also improved cognition. “This evidence sits alongside other markers of sophisticated human behavior during the late Middle Pleistocene,” the researchers said.