Researchers have found evidence that archaic humans in Germany were using bear skins for clothing as far back as 320,000 years ago. The discovery, based on markings on the bones of a cave bear, shows that our ancient ancestors used a variety of strategies to survive in the cold winter environment. This is some of the earliest known evidence of humans using animal skins for clothing.
According to a team of researchers from the University of Tübingen in Germany, the use of bear skins by ancient humans has been a topic of discussion for over 100 years. This discovery not only adds to our understanding of the diets of early humans but also gives insight into the ways they were able to survive in cold and harsh conditions in Northwestern Europe during the Middle Pleistocene period.
Challenging Environment
The team, led by archaeozoologist Ivo Verheijen, believes that studying the origins of hide exploitation can help us understand the survival strategies used by ancient humans in these challenging environments.
The area around Schöningen, Germany, has long been of interest to archaeologists. In the 1990s, a collection of ancient artifacts was found in a nearby open-cut mine, including the oldest complete wooden weapons ever discovered (a set of spears estimated to be between 300,000 and 337,000 years old). Other items found in the excavation included stone tools, bone tools, and animal bones, some of which had cut marks, indicating that ancient humans had used tools to process the animals. Among the animal bones found were those of cave bears.
Researchers were intrigued by the cut marks found on two paw bones, as they were small and precise, and did not seem to be related to the recovery of meat. According to Verheijen, these marks are usually thought to indicate the use of meat, but in this case, it is more likely that they were made as ancient humans carefully removed the skin from the bones. The scientists compared the cut marks on the bones to those on other bear paw bones analyzed in previous studies and determined that the marks found at the Schöningen site were made as ancient humans skinned the bears.
The cave bear metatarsal with cut marks suggestive of skinning.
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Cave Bear Skins
It is thought that the use of bear skins would have provided better protection against the cold for these ancient humans, who may have been Homo heidelbergensis or Neanderthals. At the time the site was in use, the earth was in an interglacial period, meaning it was relatively warm overall but still experienced cold winters. Bears have thick coats at all times, but in winter they also grow a soft undercoat for extra insulation.
Verheijen also mentioned that these cut marks provide evidence that around 300,000 years ago, ancient humans in northern Europe were able to survive the winter by using warm bear skins. The question of how humans obtained these skins can be partly answered by the bones and weapons found at the site. The humans likely hunted the bears, as the skins need to be removed quickly after the animal's death to be usable.
Verheijen notes that the presence of only adult bear bones and teeth at the Schöningen site indicates that the humans hunted the bears. It is likely that the humans skinned the bears and used the pelts for clothing or bedding, as it is unlikely that they would have gone without clothing. Their research analysis has been reported in the Journal of Human Evolution.
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