German scientists unravel the secrets of how ancient humans made ropes 40,000 years ago.
Scientists in Germany have discovered tools that were used for making ropes about 40,000 years ago, the time when modern humans arrived in Europe.
Rope and twine are critical components in the technology of mobile hunters and gatherers.
In exceptional cases impressions of string have been found in fired clay and on rare occasions string was depicted in the contexts of Ice Age art, but on the whole almost nothing is known about string, rope and textiles from the Paleolithic.
A key discovery by Nicholas Conard from University of Tubingen and colleagues in Hohle Fels Cave in southwestern Germany and experimental research and testing by Veerle Rots and her team from the University of Liege is rewriting the history of rope.
The find is a carefully carved and beautifully preserved piece of mammoth ivory 20.4 cm in length with four holes between 7 and 9 mm in diameter.
Each of the holes is lined with deep, and precisely cut spiral incisions. The new finding demonstrates that these elaborate carvings are technological features of rope-making equipment rather than just decoration.
Similar finds in the past have usually been interpreted as shaft-straighteners, decorated artworks or even musical instruments.
Thanks to the exceptional preservation of the find and rigorous testing by the team in Liege, the researchers have demonstrated that the tool was used for making rope out of plant fibres available near Hohle Fels.
"This tool answers the question of how rope was made in the Paleolithic, a question that has puzzled scientists for decades," said Rots.
Excavators found the rope-making tool in archaeological horizon Va near the base of the Aurignacian deposits of the site.
Like the famous female figurines and the flutes recovered from the Hohle Fels, the rope-making tool dates to about 40,000 years ago, the time when modern humans arrived in Europe.
The discovery underlines the importance of fibre technology and the importance of rope and string for mobile hunters and gatherers trying to cope with challenges of life in the Ice Age.
The finding was published in the journal: Archaologische Ausgrabungen Baden-Wurttemberg.
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