Study suggests earliest use of bone tools to produce clothing in Morocco 120,000 years ago

16-SEP-2021

Peer-Reviewed Publication
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

A new study led by Arizona State University paleoanthropologist Curtis Marean and ASU doctoral graduate Emily Hallett details more than 60 tools made of bone and one tool made from the tooth of a cetacean, which includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. These finds, first unearthed from Contrebandiers Cave, Morocco in 2011, are highly suggestive proxy evidence for the earliest clothing in the archaeological record and attest to the pan-African emergence of complex culture and specialized tool manufacture.

The invention of clothing, and the development of the tools needed to create it, are milestones in the story of humanity. Not only are they indicative of strides in cultural and cognitive evolution, archaeologists also believe they were essential in enabling early humans to expand their niche from Pleistocene Africa into new environments with new ecological challenges. However, as furs and other organic materials used to make clothing are unlikely to be preserved in the archaeological record, the origin of clothing is still poorly understood.

The current study published this week in iScience, which reports on a worked bone assemblage found near the Atlantic Coast of Morocco, provides strong evidence for the manufacture of clothing as far back as 120,000 years ago.

“The Contrebandiers assemblage now replaces Blombos as the oldest bone tool assemblage and industry,” said Marean, who is associate director with the ASU Institute of Human Origins and Foundation Professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, as well as Honorary Professor and International Deputy Director, African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University.

More:
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/928561