How Did Our Ancestors Dress?

Take our mini-quiz and find out

How did they dress? (2019/2019) by Fanny Le BagousseGrotte Chauvet - UNESCO World Heritage Site

Did our ancestors dress according to…

A. Fashion or B. The cold climate

The correct answer is...

B. The cold climate

Due to harsh climatic conditions, they had to protect themselves from the cold by wearing warm, waterproof clothing primarily made from animal skins and furs. 

Aurignacian hunter-gatherer #3 (2019-05-21/2019-05-21) by David Huguet/smergcGrotte Chauvet - UNESCO World Heritage Site

The clothing might have been colored with ocher or decorated with pearls, bones, or animal teeth (as jewelry). The Aurignacians also cut up animal skins, tanned them, and bound them together using muscle tendons or dried plant fibers. 

How did they dress? (2019/2019) by Fanny Le BagousseGrotte Chauvet - UNESCO World Heritage Site

They did not have needles to sew with, but rather used awls to pierce the skins and then threaded the binding material through them.  

The main purpose of clothing was to protect the body against the cold. It was also used to recognize each other within the group. 

Did children have toys? (2019/2019) by Fanny Le BagousseGrotte Chauvet - UNESCO World Heritage Site

Let's see if you can answer another prehistory question!

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.

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