(CN) — New research shows that animal bones found in a Moroccan cave were tools used by ancient humans and were likely used in the making of clothing.
Researchers were originally examining bones from the Contrebandiers Cave in Morocco to learn about the diet and environment of human ancestors that had lived in the region over 90,000 years ago. However, they soon discovered that the bones were not just meal scraps, but rather early examples of tools that were used to shape leather and fur.
“These bone tools have shaping and use marks that indicate they were used for scraping hides to make leather and for scraping pelts to make fur,” said Emily Hallett of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany, lead author of the new research paper. “At the same time, I found a pattern of cut marks on the carnivore bones from Contrebandiers Cave that suggested that humans were not processing carnivores for meat but were instead skinning them for their fur.”
The study was published Thursday in the journal iScience, with the authors writing that their findings show “highly suggestive proxy evidence for the earliest clothing in the archaeological record.”
Little is known about how early clothing was manufactured because such organic materials do not preserve well, especially when they were made about 100,000 years ago.
Despite this, scientists believe that fur and hide clothing was essential to the migration of early humans because it allowed them to withstand colder climates.
“Genetic studies of clothing lice by other researchers have suggested that clothing originated in modern humans at least 170,000 years ago in Africa,” Hallett said.
The researchers identified 62 bone tools from the Contrebandiers Cave and found that the tools were polished and smoothed, and chiseled in different ways to create specific shapes.
Alongside those tools was a tooth tip from a marine animal that showed markings of some human modifications. This is a significant finding because it is the earliest documented use of a marine mammal tooth by humans.
Besides tools, researchers also found remains of animals such as sand foxes, wildcats and golden jackals that showed marks that the animal skins had been removed for furs. Other remains showed a different kind of marking, one suggesting that the animals had been used for meat.
Both the animal remains and bone tools found in the cave shed light on the emergence of a complex pan-African culture that used different materials to manufacture a variety of tools.
“Our findings show that early humans were manufacturing bone tools that were used to prepare skins and furs, and that this behavior is likely part of a larger tradition with earlier examples that have not yet been found,” Hallett said.
Hallett said she hopes to conduct an experiment to understand the effort and time it took to make and maintain these types of early bone tools.
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
Additional Reads
-
-
Illinois likely to face extreme heat next week June 14, 2024