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. 2024 Feb 2;10(5):eadh5217.
doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adh5217. Epub 2024 Jan 31.

Rope making in the Aurignacian of Central Europe more than 35,000 years ago

Nicholas J Conard  1   2 , Veerle Rots  3
Affiliations

Rope making in the Aurignacian of Central Europe more than 35,000 years ago

Nicholas J Conard et al. Sci Adv. .

Abstract

Evidence for the manufacture and use of fiber technology such as rope and twine is rare in the Paleolithic, despite the widely held view that such artifacts were in regular use during the Pleistocene. On the basis of the discovery of a more than 35,000-year-old perforated baton made from mammoth ivory at Hohle Fels Cave in Ach Valley of southwestern Germany together with experimental studies, we are now able to demonstrate one way people of the early Upper Paleolithic manufactured rope. This work contributes to our understanding of the evolution of technology, cooperative work, and Paleolithic social organization.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.. North-south stratigraphic Profile 2 at Hohle Fels.
The large green star shows the position of the 13 fragments of the perforated baton that were recovered in place. The small green stars show the approximate position of the two fragments found during waterscreening. The red circles show the location of radiocarbon dates from anthropogenically modified bones within 50 cm east and west of Profile 2. (Image: A. Janas, University of Tübingen.)
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.. Ivory perforated baton from Hohle Fels Cave, southwestern Germany with four views.
Convex surface second from the left, flat surface far right. Distal end up, handle down. (Photo: H. Jensen, University of Tübingen.)
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.. Macro- and microscopic images of the ivory perforated baton from Hohle Fels and residue evidence.
(A) Ivory perforated baton. (B) Plant tissue extracted from Lochstab (transmitted-light microscopy, POL, ×400). (C) Possible tracheid extracted from Lochstab (transmitted-light microscopy, POL, ×400). (D to K) Details of the grooved holes according to their position on the artifact. Images are taken on the main fragmented parts of the Lochstab before refitting. Both faces of each hole are depicted in the order as depicted in (A) [distal hole: (D) and (H), note fracture in groove on (H); left central hole: (E) and (I); right central hole: (F) and (J); proximal hole/near handle: (G) and (K)]. [Photo: (A): H. Jensen, University of Tübingen; (B) and (C): D. Cnuts, University of Liège; (D) to (K); V. Rots, University of Liège.]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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