Bone Discovery Suggests Humans Were Already Manufacturing Clothes 120,000 Years Ago - ScienceAlert

Patterns of cut marks on the bones matched with tools found at other archaeological sites that had been used to process leather.

"Organic materials such as leather and fur are extremely unlikely to preserve in deposits that are this old, so as archaeologists we are left with pieces of evidence that include tools and the bones from animals that preserve skinning marks," Hallett told ScienceAlert.

"We can put these pieces of evidence together and suggest that humans were using bone tools to prepare leather and fur that was likely used for clothing." .

"These bone tools could have been used to prepare leather for purposes other than clothing, such as storage devices," added Hallett.

"These tools were most likely used for clothing, and it is interesting that the archaeological record and genetic evidence both point to an ancient origin in Africa," said Hallett