Study of faunal remains suggest garments
with fur trim were made only by modern humans.
Neanderthal use of clothing has
long been debated. Even during warm interglacial periods, Neanderthals must
have faced a problem with heat-loss in winter. It has been argued that wearing cape-type
clothing across the shoulder would not have been sufficient to ward off the
cold of even a moderately severe winter or body cooling caused by wind-chill.
Clothing and footwear would therefore have had to be sewn together tightly in
order to keep out snow and water. (Sørensen, 2009) Despite this,
definite evidence for tailored clothing is lacking in Europe prior to the
arrival of modern humans, and it has only been found at modern human sites. (Klein, 1999;
Hoffecker, 2005)
In an attempt to resolve the
issue, a team of researchers led by anthropologist Mark Collard adopted a novel
approach. They considered faunal remains found at both Neanderthal and modern
human sites and noted species whose skins might have been used to make clothing.
They found that although species suitable for making cold-weather garments were
found at both Neanderthal and modern human sites, remains of wolves, foxes,
rabbits and mink occurred more frequently at modern human sites. These species
are used to make garments with fur trim, and it was accordingly argued that
Neanderthals did not make such garments and did, after all, rely on cape-type
clothing. (Collard, et al., 2016)
References:
Sørensen, B., Energy use
by Eem Neanderthals. Journal of Archaeological Science 36 (10),
2201-2005 (2009).
Klein, R., The Human
Career, 2nd ed. (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1999).
Hoffecker, J., Innovation
and Technological Knowledge in the Upper Paleolithic of Northern Eurasia. Evolutionary
Anthropology 14, 186-198 (2005).
Collard, M., Tarle, L.,
Sandgathe, D. & Allan, A., Faunal evidence for a difference in clothing use
between Neanderthals and early modern humans in Europe. Journal of
Anthropological Archaeology (2016).
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