U.S. scientists have discovered 120,000-year-old tools found in Morocco that were used to make human clothing from leather.
Earlier, experts believed that man began to make clothes for himself about 40,000 years ago, while before that he used to cover himself with animal skins to protect himself from the harsh weather.
New research from Arizona State University, led by Emily Helt and Curtis Marine of the United States, proves the history of human clothing to be at least 80,000 years older than our previous estimates.
Details of the study are published online in the latest issue of the research journal Eye Science, which examines more than 60 ancient tools found in the Moroccan “Contrebender” caves.
Discovered in 2011, the tools are 90,000 to 120,000 years old and are made from the bones of animals such as whales and dolphins.
Many of these tools had certain markings that looked like they could be used to make clothing from animal skins. To confirm this, Emily Helt compared them to the ancient human tools discovered in making clothes.
Emily and her colleagues were right about the comparison. These tools made 120,000 years ago, bear a striking resemblance to ancient tools used in clothing. However, they were 80,000 years older than the oldest such tools.
It should be noted that so far our knowledge of the earliest human clothing is very limited because leather clothing is extremely soft and if not carefully handled, it will fade and disappear after only a few centuries. ۔
In that case, the only evidence we have of human clothing remains the ancient and hard tools that were used to make clothing. And that has survived to some extent, even after enduring the hardships of the weather for hundreds of millions of years.
Apart from houses and agriculture, clothing also played an equally important role at the beginning of human civilization. That is why this latest discovery is of paramount importance because it shows that ancient man was also more advanced and skilled than our predecessors.
