Early Human Utensils & Clothes
Even with little information available to modern humans about early human beings, there is evidence that early humans fashioned utensils and clothing. Items found in nature---everything from stones and twigs to shells and animal horns---were used to make simple utensils. Some evidence suggests that early human clothing was fashioned from items found in nature as well, though researchers disagree about the need of clothing for early humans.
Other People Are Reading
-
Neanderthals
-
There were several species of early humans. The most well-known is probably Homo neandertalensis, more commonly referred to as "Neandertals" or "Neanderthals." The species' name comes from the place where the first remains of these humans were found---a valley called Neander Tal. These early humans are thought to have been advanced for their time. In contrast to the unflattering image of them as empty-headed beasts, they are believed to have hunted, created tools from stone, fish hooks and needles from bones and clothing from the skins of animals.
Despite their advancements, Neanderthals became extinct in approximately 30,000 BCE.
Spoon and Knife
-
Early humans, with few utensils at their disposal and a lack of table etiquette, often ate with their hands. They do appear, however, to have fashioned some crude table utensils. Andy Gilchrist, author of the Encyclopedia of Men's Clothes, which contains information about the history of dining utensils, provides insight into the utensils used by early humans. According to Gilchrist, prehistoric humans used stones with sharp points to cut food, to defend themselves and to hunt.
To hold liquids, the earliest versions of spoons were fashioned from hollowed-out animal horns, like those of sheep and goats. Other tribes---primarily those living near a coast---made spoon-like utensils by attaching sticks to shells.
-
Chopsticks
-
As early as the third century BCE, early chopsticks were being used in China. The utensils were simple---just two thin sticks used to eat food quickly---and were probably no more than twigs taken from nearby trees. According to Gilchrist, "Confucius may have influenced Chinese utensil selection with his nonviolent philosophy and discouragement of knives at the dinner table."
Human Hair
-
It is not entirely clear whether or not early humans wore clothing. In a 2003 Washington Post article, Rick Weiss reports that "scientists studying the DNA of lice have concluded that early humans may have started wearing clothes just a few tens of thousands of years ago, more recently than many had presumed." The study involved human body lice and human head lice. The difference between the two is that body lice need clothing for survival and head lice do not. Mark Stoneking, the leader of the study, who works with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, claims that the results of the study seem to lend credit to the idea that early humans had enough body hair to keep warm without clothing.
Fiber Materials
-
In a September 2009 Science Daily article, an archaeological discovery of the oldest-known fiber materials used by early humans is discussed. Flax fibers---plant fibers that are used to manufacture linen thread---more than 34,000 years old were discovered in a cave in the Republic of Georgia. The cloth and thread made from wild flax may have been used to make clothes for early humans. According to the Science Daily article, the flax fibers---discovered through a study of clay samples taken from the cave---are only visible under a microscope. This is because "the garments and items sewed together with the flax have long ago disintegrated."
-
