Stories told over the campfire between one million and 40,000 years ago may have had a significant effect on human culture.
The stories are believed to have helped culture evolve by promoting equality between peers, reinforcing traditions, and helping people develop a strong sense of community, the University of Utah reported.
"There is something about fire in the middle of the darkness that bonds, mellows and also excites people. It's intimate," said anthropology professor Polly Wiessner. "Nighttime around a fire is universally time for bonding, for telling social information, for entertaining, for a lot of shared emotions."
Researchers analyzed daytime and firelight conversations of the modern !Kung Bushmen (the exclamation point represents clicking sounds in their language) of the Kalahari Desert of northeast Namibia and northwest Botswana.
"We can't tell about the past from the Bushmen," Wiessner said. "But these people live from hunting and gathering. For 99 percent of our evolution, this is how our ancestors lived. What transpires during the firelit night hours by hunter-gatherers? It helps answer the question of what firelit space contributes to human life."
Researchers believe humans first gained control of fire about one million years ago and started using it regularly about 40,000 years ago. Using a campfire lengthened humans' days, altering their circadian rhythms.
Researchers observed !Kung Bushmen talking about topics such as "past hunts, fights over meat, marriage, premarital customs, murder, bush fires, birth, getting lost, interactions with other groups, truck breakdowns, being chased by animals, disputes and extramarital affairs," around the campfire. The group also tended to speak about traditional myths.
In a comparison of notes taken from !Kung daytime conversations and recordings of their firelight conversations in the 1970s, Wiessner found the two types differed greatly. In daytime conversations: 34 percent tended to be complaints, criticisms, and gossip; 31 percent were on economic subjects; 16 percent were jokes; and six percent were stories (the rest were on various topics). Nightime conversations consisted of 81 percent stories, while only seven percent were "complaints, criticism and gossip."
"At night, people really let go, mellow out and seek entertainment. If there have been conflicts in the day, they overcome those and bond. Night conversation has more to do with stories, talking about the characteristics of people who are not present and who are in your broader networks, and thoughts about the spirit world and how it influences the human world. You have singing and dancing, too, which bonds groups," Wiessner said.
These reinforced communities are believed to be what helped humans colonize the planet, leading to the society we see today. Nonhuman primates don't maintain ties outside of their group; this is a trait unique to humans.
"Humans form communities that are not together in space, but are in our heads -- virtual communities. They are communities in our heads. For the Bushmen, they may be up to 120 miles away," Wiessner said. She believes campfire stories and conversations helped spark human imagination, making these virtual communities possible.
Wiessner is concerned about the state of these types of conversations in today's developed society.
"Work spills into the night. We now sit on laptops in our homes. When you are able to work at night, you suddenly have a conflict: 'I have only 15 minutes to tell my kids a bedtime story. I don't have time to sit around and talk.' Artificial light turned potential social time into potential work time. What happens to social relations?" Wiessner asked.
The findings were published on Sept. 22 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
