Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
When man start get dressed? This question may often arise in your mind and invention recently in a cave in Morocco finally gave a glimmer of enlightenment.
In popular culture, stone age humans are depicted often wearing animal hair to wrap their bodies. However, since the fur clothing narrative emerged, archaeological evidence of what ancient humans actually wore and how clothing was made at that time has been minimal.
Fur, leather and other materials identical to clothing can be destroyed, especially after 100,000 years. But now, researchers have found 62 animal bones that were used to make clothes are still stored in a cave in Morocco.
The discovery of tools that are between 90,000 and 120,000 years old is then considered to be evidence of when clothing was first made in the archaeological record.
“I didn’t expect to find it. At first I studied it to reconstruct the human diet,” said Emily Yuko Hallet, a postdoctoral scientist at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History’s Pan African Evolution Research Group. CNN.
While examining 12,000 animal bones, Hallet began to notice that some bones had a different shape, not the natural shape of animal bones. The bones looked shiny, had a few scratches on them.
Hallet, who co-authored the findings in the journal iScience, said the bones were unlike bones that were thrown away after the meat that was wrapped in them was eaten.
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A new discovery in Morocco uncovers evidence that suggests the time range for humans to start dressing. (REUTERS/JACOPO NICCOLO CERASONI)- – |
The bones are shaped like a spatula that can be used to remove connective tissue.
“The reason people love to use them is because they don’t penetrate the skin, so the animal skin can remain intact,” Hallet said.
He also found a pattern of scars on other bones in the cave indicating that humans who lived there discarded the skins of carnivores such as sand foxes, golden wolves and wild cats, for their clothing.
While the bones of cow-like animals show different markings, indicating that they were processed for meat.
“I’m really excited about the skinning marks in carnivores, because I’ve never seen this pattern described before. And my hope is that archaeologists working on much older sites also start looking for this pattern,” he said.
For what ancient humans dressed
Tools made of bone were found in the Cave of Contrebandiers on the Atlantic Coast, Morocco. Hallet began to wonder about the function of clothing made by humans in ancient times.
Because he believes the climate 120,000 years ago was no different from today, had a mild temperature.
It could be that the skin they made using bone tools was used for clothing as a form of body protection or even just as an ornament placed on their bodies.
“There are no current or past temperature extremes in the area. So I wonder if clothing is really useful or just symbolic or both,” he said.
In his findings, Hallet also believes that ancient humans who once lived there used skin and fur from sand foxes, wolves to wild cats.
It is not easy to determine when humans start wearing clothes in their lives. It could be, early Neanderthal humans who lived in cold climates had worn clothes to protect themselves from extreme weather. However, there is no solid evidence to explain it.
Hallet said the 98 400,000-year-old tools made from elephant bones found in Italy could be the same as those found in Morocco, used to smooth skin. It could be that these bones were used by Neanderthals.
(tst / bait)
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