Archaeologists in Germany have uncovered some of the earliest evidence of the use of clothing, with newly discovered cut marks on a cave bear’s paws suggesting the prehistoric animal was skinned for its fur some 300,000 years ago.
The discovery in Schöningen, northern Germany, is exciting because despite the written records of cave men and women covered in fur in some popular cultures, very little is truly known about how early humans clothed their bodies. Fur, leather and other organic materials typically can’t be preserved beyond 100,000 years.
“The study is significant because direct evidence of prehistoric clothing is scant and we know relatively little about how humans in the deep past were protecting themselves from cold winters. From this early time period, there are only a handful of sites that show evidence of bear skinning, with Schöningen providing the most complete picture,” said study author Ivo Verheijen from Tübingen University in Germany.
Cave bears were large animals, about the size of polar bears, that went extinct about 25,000 years ago. The cave bear’s fur, which has long outer hairs that form an airy protective layer, and short, dense hairs that provide good insulation (隔离), was suitable for making simple clothing or bedding.
The clothing in the site probably wrapped the human body without careful tailoring. The eyed needles needed to sew more excellent designs didn’t emerge in the archaeological record until about 45,000 years ago.
“We found the cut marks on the cave bear’s hands and feet where very little meat or fat is present on the bones, which argues against the cut marks originating from the butchering of the animal,” Verheijen said. “In these locations, the skin is much closer to the bones, which makes marking the bones inevitable when an animal is being skinned.”
The Schöningen site in Germany is most famous for the discovery of the oldest known wooden weapons that were used to kill prey 300,000 years ago.
But it’s still challenging to figure out exactly when ancient humans began wearing clothing. Genetic studies of lice (跳蚤) indicate that clothing lice separated from their human head louse ancestors at least 83,000 years ago and possibly as early as 170,000 years ago, which suggests humans were wearing clothes before major migrations out of Africa. Bone tools found in what’s now Morocco suggest that humans were processing animal skins 90,000 to 120,000 years ago.
12. What did archaeologists find in Schöningen?
A.Fur of a cave bear. | B.Bones with cut marks. |
C.Pieces of prehistoric clothing. | D.Evidence of prehistoric hunting. |
13. What does the word “scant” underlined in paragraph 3 probably mean?
A.Not correct. | B.Not very much. |
C.Not valuable. | D.Not clear enough. |
14. What did Verheijen aim to do in paragraph 6?
A.To give an explanation. | B.To provide some examples. |
C.To offer more details of the study. | D.To show the importance of the study. |
15. What is the last paragraph mainly about?
A.Previous studies on human clothing. |
B.The process of studying human clothing. |
C.Other new discoveries of human clothing. |
D.An unsolved mystery about human clothing. |