Box 9-1: Through a
Glass, Darwinian
The Softer Side of the Stone Age: The Origins of Textiles and Clothing
The terms Paleolithic,
Mesolithic and Neolithic, Old, Middle and New Stone Ages respectively have been
used to label broad swaths of human cultural development. The use of these
terms reflects not only a bias resulting from the archaeological record but it
also perpetuates and amplifies a conceptual bias even in the scientists, who
should know better. Implements of stone and bone are what remain from the
distant past, for the simple reason that they are durable. When we try to
reconstruct a picture of the culture and daily existence of the people that
left these tools we must keep in mind the fact that what we have is a sample of
durable artifacts and not a sample of representative artifacts. Objects such as
spear throwers, carved from mammoth tusks and a wealth of stone spear points
have fostered the image of late Pleistocene societies that revolved around male
big game hunting. Pictorial reconstructions of men and women in these societies
typically depict them clad in animal skins.
Evidence that suggested
something very different was overlooked. For example, the “Venus” figurines,
thought to be fertility icons dating to over 25,000 years, are some of the most
extensively studied of all archaeological objects. Yet despite all this study,
prominent researchers failed to note features on many of the statuettes that
indicated sophisticated clothing. It was not until widespread evidence of
weaving technology dating back to over 28,000 years had been discovered that
the apparel “worn” by some of the Venus statues could be identified. The
carvings depict elaborately woven skirts, bandeaux, belts, and hats (Soffer
& Adovasio, 2000).
Until recently, archaeologists
had little information on ice age objects that degrade quickly –soft objects
such as cordage and basketry–known as "perishable technologies." In
1953, fragments of rope sticking to the wall of Lascaux cave in southwestern
France were dated at 15,000 years of age. In 1994, samples of cordage dating to
19,000 years were found in Israel. In 1998, impressions in hardened bits of
clay found in the Chech Republic were identified as evidence of prehistoric
textiles (rope, nets, baskets, and woven cloth) dating back to 28,000 years
(Adovasio, Soffer, & Klima, 1996). Recent findings indicate that these
early textile industries were widespread over ice age Europe (Soffer &
Adovasio, 2000). The origins of the textile industry may date back to over
40,000 years ago when people learned to twist plant fibers together. This time
period marks the beginning of the so-called “Creative Explosion” when wide
spread artwork begins to appear.
While woven objects have
numerous utilitarian functions such as baskets for carrying foraged plant foods
and nets for capturing small game the act of constructing them lends itself to
artistic expression. This is particularly true for clothing. Although clothing
has an obvious utilitarian function in cold climates, it may have originated as
a form of body ornament and display rather than a heat insulator. Many modern
hunter-gatherer peoples who live in the tropics wear little or no clothing but
put a lot of energy into body adornment in the form of body painting,
tattooing, scarification and the use of jewelry. The first Homo sapiens sapiens populations arose in tropical Africa before
invading the colder regions of Europe and Asia around 50,000 years ago.
Archaeological evidence associated with the anatomically modern humans living
in southern Africa 120,000 years ago suggests that ocher pigment was used for
body adornment.
It is quite possible that
originally, clothing was purely an early form of artistic expression
functioning to enhance displays of status and courtship. Exposure to colder and
wetter environments would have quickly resulted in a shift to a more functional
role for clothing. Weaving technologies would have been readily coopted for
clothing production. No matter how utilitarian a particular garment, wearing it
effects how others perceive an individual. Consequently, clothing has probably
always been either a blending of art and utility or purely a form of art.