Scientists from the University of Bordeaux discovered that people living in Spain began sewing tight clothing at least 40,000 years ago. The research was published in the journal Science Advances.
Scientists have found a fragment of the thigh bone of an herbivore, possibly a horse or a lap, in an outdoor area. There were irregular puncture marks. The age of the work is estimated to be 39,600 years. Based on the age of the object and other objects found here, scientists concluded that it belongs to one of the first. homo sapiens in Europe.
The scientists’ experiment showed that this piece of bone could be used as a solid substrate on which a piece of skin was placed, and then holes were drilled in the skin using incisors. Then a thread was threaded through these holes by sewing the pieces of leather together. At the same time, the artifact was used several times – this is indicated by the location of the holes.
It is believed that clothes first appeared more than 120,000 years ago. Artifacts thought to be early needles were found in South Africa and are estimated to be 61,000 years old. The scientists’ discovery was the first documented evidence of the technique ancient people used to make clothes.
Archaeologists have confirmed that the holes in the femur were drilled by humans, not by a hyena, bear or other carnivore. Another hypothesis was that the bone was just an art form or was used to record information such as the lunar calendar. The problem with this hypothesis is that of the 28 holes the scientists found on the sample, only 10 were flat and visible, while the remaining 18 were very sloppy and barely visible. Scientists believe that there is no point in drilling invisible holes in the calendar.