Ice age likely made paleolithic humans venture into fashion, and invent the underwear

When did fashion emerge? It is hard to pinpoint the exact time when fashion became a thing. But a new study has placed the origin of fashion hundreds of thousands of years back to the Siberian caves. What led to this theory is the analysis of the world’s earliest eyed sewing needles that date back to the Last Glacial Maximum in the famous Denisova Cave. The cave was home to Denisovans, Neanderthals, and modern humans for over 100,000 years. 

While till least 70,000 years ago the residents of the cave used bone awls, or eyeless sewing needles, to prepare their clothing, something prompted the Denisovans to make sophisticated needles. This was a dip in temperature as the ice age set in. 

Till now, the bone awls were working for them. But now they needed to protect themselves from the biting cold. They needed more layers of clothing to cover up. But the regular needles weren’t enough to do the job. So they went through the trouble of designing more complicated tools, including the eyed needle and other eyed tools, researchers say.

“An association between eyed needles and a physiological need for more thermally effective fitted clothing is apparent,” the study authors say adding that “a link with underwear has been posited.”

However, the need for these needles didn’t just end there. While they covered up to protect themselves from the cold, they lost avenues of expression of art. They could no longer show off their tattoos, body paint and other scars which they sported for several reasons. So, designing clothes emerged as an alternative to showing creativity, which again required the use of tools like the eyed needle. 

Study author Dr Ian Gilligan said in a statement, “Eyed needle tools are an important development in prehistory because they document a transition in the function of clothing from utilitarian to social purposes.” 

Eyed needles would have been especially useful for the very fine sewing that was required to decorate clothing.”

Their regular garments were likely made more exciting by attaching beads and fur, as per the study published in Science Advances.