Previously reported evidence for the Upper Paleolithic use of textiles comes from several sites in Eurasia, including Dolni Vestonice and Pavlov, both in the Czech Republic. Found at Pavlov were impressions in clay of knotted nets, thought to have been used to capture birds. These sites are both dated to the Upper Paleolithic period between about 29,000-32,000 BP, or approximately the same age as Dzudzuana Cave. Ohalo II in Israel contained some unidentified plant fibers dated about ~21,000 BP, and of course footwear made from plant fibers has been postulated as early as 40,000 BP.
The most well-known evidence for the Upper Paleolithic use of fibers is, of course, illustrated on this page: fabric apparel on so-called venus figurines, including the 24,000 year old Venus of Willendorf. Other accepted archaeological evidence for the use of fibers of whatever date includes the recovery of eyed needles, awls, spindle whorls, combs, shuttles, netting needles and frames, and looms or other specialized tools related to weaving. Soffer (2004 below) has suggested that one use for the ivory baton discovered on many Paleolithic sites might have been used as a batten, to tamp down weft rows on a loom, based on the recognition of usewear on the long edges. Other accepted evidence includes sickle gloss and plant residues on stone tools; and impressions of plaited fibers or textiles in ceramic vessels, unfired clay and figurines like the Venus.
Sources and Further Information
- Dzuduana Cave, Georgia
- Plant Residues
- Venus Figurines
- Ohalo II, Israel
Bochenski, Zbigniew M., et al. In press Fowling during the Gravettian: the avifauna of Pavlov I, the Czech Republic. Journal of Archaeological Science In press
Hurcombe, Linda 2008 Organics from inorganics: using experimental archaeology as a research tool for studying perishable material culture. World Archaeology 40(1):83–115.
Kvavadze, Eliso, et al. 2009 30,000-Year-Old Wild Flax Fibers. Science 325:1359.
Lupo, Karen D. and Dave N. Schmitt 2002 Upper Paleolithic Net-Hunting, Small Prey Exploitation, and Women’s Work Effort: A View From the Ethnographic and Ethnoarchaeological Record of the Congo Basin. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 9(2):147-179.
Minturn, Leigh 1996 The Economic Importance and Technological Complexity of Hand-Spinning and Hand-Weaving. Cross-Cultural Research 30:330-351.
Soffer, Olga 2004 Recovering Perishable Technologies through Use Wear on Tools: Preliminary Evidence for Upper Paleolithic Weaving and Net Making. Current Anthropology 45(3):407-424.
Trinkaus, Erik 2005 Anatomical evidence for the antiquity of human footwear use. Journal of Archaeological Science 32(10):1515-1526.
