A new study from the University of Utah show humans don't only use fire to cook and fend-off predators but to tell stories that help people bond with each other.

Researchers said that stories told over campfires helped human culture evolve their social traditions. The stories also promoted harmony and equality while sparking the imagination of the community.

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Polly Wiessner, one of the researchers, said little is known on how fire ignited the embers of culture and society.

She also said there is something about fire that bonds and makes things more intimate for people.

Wiessner said nighttime around a fire helps bond and entertain people. It also allows people to share their emotions with others.

She studied tales of Bushmen that lived in the Kalahari Desert in the northeastern part of Namibia and the northwestern part of Botswana.

Wiessner said researchers can't tell much about the past of the Bushmen but what transpires during the firelight night hours of these hunters can help answer question on how campfire bonding contributes to human life.

She said campfire stories were told virtually in all hunter societies, which serves as the social medium of that period.

She found a big difference between day and night conversation and the kinds of information dissemination that happened during those conversations.

Wiessner said day conversations consisted of economic activities like work, getting food and available resources. She also said it has a lot to do with social economic issues and controls like criticism, complaints and gripes.

At night, however, people like to let go, mellow-out and be entertained after a day of resolving daily conflicts.

She also said that night conversations consist of stories like the influence of the supernatural world on the human world.