Through carbon dating, the researchers determined that the artifacts were about 11,700 to 12,900 years ago, when temperatures had returned to Ice Age temperatures after a brief warm period.
Researchers have discovered what is believed to be the world’s oldest sewn animal skin, as well as Ice Age eye-bone needles found in Oregon, according to researchers at the Alliance of North American Universities.
The study, published in Science Advances, analyzed 55 artifacts found at Cougar Mountain Caverns (CMC) and Paisley Caverns in central Oregon, as well as Smith Creek Cave and Bonneville Manor Rock Shelter in Nevada, but the significant finds were made in the first two caves.
Through carbon dating, the researchers determined that the artifacts were about 11,700 to 12,900 years ago, when temperatures had returned to Ice Age temperatures after a brief warm period.
The CMC was originally excavated in 1958 by an amateur archaeologist named John Cowles. The artifacts analyzed in the study were part of Cowles’ original collection of excavated artifacts, now housed at the Farwell Museum in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
The Paisley Caves, also known as the Paisley Five Mile Point Caves, were originally studied by archaeologist Luther Cressman in the 1930s and were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.
Archaeologists have discovered 20,000-year-old stone tools in a South African cave, revealing the complexity of Ice Age technology. (Source: Sarah Watson)
According to the researchers, the most striking find was a piece of elk hide with stitches sewn around the edges. The researchers determined that the thread was made from entwined plant fibers and animal hair, connecting the main pieces of leather to smaller fragments and knotting them.
Research shows that the hide was dated three times to approximately 12,000 years old, and chemical analysis confirmed it came from a North American elk.
The researchers also studied 14 bone needles from four different sites and determined they were carved from bison and goat bones.
“Across North America, there are only 17 sites with Pleistocene-era bone spicules. [Ice Age] Research shows that this is not the case in South America.
About 80% of Ice Age plant and animal material is found in the Americas
The two caves contain 80 percent of all Ice Age plant and animal material found anywhere in North or South America, the study explains, noting that 23 fiber artifacts, 12 wooden tools and three animal skins have been found at the CMC alone.
The fiber products were primarily three-strand braided rope made from sagebrush bark, and fragments of tightly woven baskets were also found, making them the oldest evidence of baskets in the Western Hemisphere.
The cave also contains 79 stone spear points, many of which have been re-polished many times, along with bison, elk and rabbit bones.
The study concluded: “The presence of large numbers of bone needles, ornaments and very fine-eyed needles suggests that clothing was not just a practical survival strategy but also a means of expression and identity.”
“This evidence goes beyond traditional assumptions and confirms that Pleistocene peoples in the Americas used clothing as a survival technology and social practice.”
