Neanderthal / cavemen Clothing

As stated earlier on in blogs the bible states that Adam and eve were given animal clothing from God. The history of people such as the neanderthal show how animal hides / skins were used as clothing and protection and survival within their environment. Below is a bit of history from the Stone Age and how the neanderthal made clothing.


The beginning of design and textile techniques.

Lower Paleolithic

no evidence of clothing

Middle Paleolithic

draped animal hides, sometimes bound with sinew

Upper Paleolithic

animal hides punched with awls and sewn with sinew and bone needles

Mesolithic

animal hides punched with awls and then sewn with sinew and bone needles

Neolithic

animal hides punched with awls and sewn with sinew and bone needles, first appearance of woven plant fiber textiles

Specific Inventions of the Stone Age

draped animal hide clothing

washing of garments

detergent

dyes

bleaching

tanning hides

shoes

the needle

the awl

sewn animal hide clothing

domestication of livestock

cultivation of crops

spinning

hand weaving

The Middle Paleolithic was the time of the Neanderthal who wore clothing made of animal hides draped around the body and probably bound in place with sinew. Neanderthals did not create any surviving artwork and did not leave behind any evidence of loom or needle.

Neanderthals did tan their hides, however, as uncured hides are smelly and prone to rotting. A number of tanning methods were developed – placing raw hides in the sun, salting hides, smoking hides, chewing hides – all of which achived the goal of making a hide more suitable for clothing or shelter. Some scientists have hypothesized that even urine was used for tanning. Many dispute that fact since the first time something tanned with urine was rained on or sweated in, the resulting odor would have been less than pleasant. Evenutally a technique called ‘brain tanning’ in which the oils from animal brains were used to make a raw hide into a soft, velvety wearble skin. Later, a process called vegetable tanning was developed in which hides were submerged in pools with vegetable matter in them – tannins. The type of tanning used varied by location and resources as well as contacts with other groups.

Neanderthal burial sites sometimes contained the pigment ochre, a naturally red- or yellow-tinted clay, and could have been the first intentional manipulation of color. Scientists suspect that Neanderthals also created dyes and paints with which to decorate themselves. Some say that the use of color in burial sites may have been incidental, as ochre has anti-microbial properties and could have been used to slow decay or lessen unpleasant odors. This could have been the reason that some Neanderthal-era hides appear to have been treated with ochre during the tanning process.

As a result, it has been speculated that Neanderthals may have been the first to dye or bleach hides. A bleaching detergent can be made from stale urine which can render a hide white. Next, a dye made from ochre can be applied which would render an ochre red or ochre yellow hide. This would have been a rather long, somewhat difficult process and most likely hides of a special color would have been used for special occasions such as ceremonies or for individuals of special rank.

Neanderthals may have been the first to wear shoes, although studies of toes bones of older species indicate that they, too, may have worn shoes. ( However the oldest date documented about the use of shoes only goes back to 5000BC ( the Native American sandals).

Ref: 

bhowc.wordpress.com/2006/03/31/the-stone-age/

 Neanderthal Dressing

 

Bone Needle

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This is a woolly mammoth which would have lived around the period of the Neanderthal 
and were often defeated by the Neanderthal in order for them to survive. 
The Mammoth would've provided them with not only clothing but food as well.


These days it really was survival of the fittest. 




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As Man Has evolved so has innovation, design and technology.
I thought it was interesting to show this as it started with the neanderthal who devised clothing
and survival techniques that have been passed onto the human race of today in which we
play with elements to create a new.


Contemporary design inspired by the Neanderthal / "cavemen"


                 


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