Emily Chan
Our clothing style is a form of expression, a way to reflect our identities. But this wasn’t always the case. Back in ancient times, clothes were merely used as protection from the weather.
After studying ancient tools, researchers believe they have pinpointed when clothing started being worn for fashion purposes.
A team of researchers looked at archaeological evidence from multiple sites across Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East, where ancient tools used for making clothes have been discovered. Their examination raised a number of questions about eyed needles.
“Eyed needle tools are an important development in prehistory because they document a transition in the function of clothing from utilitarian to social purposes,” said Dr. Ian Gilligan, an archaeologist at the University of Sydney.
Before the development of eyed needles, humans had been creating clothing with bone awls since at least 70,000 years ago. The earliest known eyed needles appeared about 40,000 years ago and were found in a cave in Siberia.
Eyed needles allowed for more efficiency and precision to create tailored garments with adornments.
However, they were much more difficult to make than bone awls. Bone awls were crafted by sharpening animal bones to a point. Eyed needles are made similarly but with the added feature of a perforated hole to pull the thread through.
The invention of eyed needles suggests that more complex clothing was being created. Beads, shells, or other small ornamental objects were attached to the garments. But why did clothing become an item of decoration?
According to Dr. Gilligan and his team, the last ice age made traditional body decoration practices impossible, as people needed to bundle up in order to survive.
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