Embroidery needles much older than thought
Last year, archaeologists discovered sewing needles in Siberia that were 20,000 years old. A recent paper draws together what we know of our ancestors’ clothing habits: “Many of the needles we discovered were not simply used to manufacture clothes but for embroidery and ornaments. There was an aesthetic role,” says Francesco d’Errico, an anthropologist at the University of Bordeaux in France and a co-author of the study. As for sewing and clothing in general: We do not know which Homo species—neanderthalensis or sapiens—first pioneered the practice of wearing furs. But by 76,000 years ago, anthropologists believe that Homo sapiens were creating bone awls, a precursor to the needle, in South Africa. In the millennia to follow, artifacts suggest most prehistoric Read More ›