When Did Humans Start Wearing Clothes?

#HistoryOfClothing #HumanEvolution #Prehistory When did humans start wearing clothes, and why do we do it at all, when no other animal gets dressed? The first clothes rotted away long ago, so scientists follow the clues they left behind instead. This video climbs through three "firsts", from a 320,000-year-old bear skin to the T-shirt you're wearing right now, and ends on the people who paid for cheap clothes. This video covers: Why losing our body fur made clothes necessary The 120,000-year-old hide tools of Contrebandiers Cave, Morocco How body lice help date the first regular clothing The 320,000-year-old bear skins of Schöningen, Germany, likely older than our own species The first thread, the first dyes and the first eyed needles Neanderthal string and the 10,000 ivory beads of Sungir Ötzi's outfit, the Tarkhan dress, and how clothes became cheap and ordinary If you could go back in time, would you give up clothes completely and live the way people did on that grassland? Subscribe for more stories about the first things humans ever made. ____________ Sources: Rogers, Iltis & Wooding — Genetic Variation at the MC1R Locus and the Time since Loss of Human Body Hair, Current Anthropology, 2004 Hallett et al. — A worked bone assemblage from 120,000–90,000 year old deposits at Contrebandiers Cave, Morocco, iScience, 2021 (as reported by the Max Planck Institute) Toups et al. — Origin of Clothing Lice Indicates Early Clothing Use by Anatomically Modern Humans in Africa, Molecular Biology and Evolution, 2011 Verheijen et al. — Early evidence for bear exploitation during MIS 9 from the site of Schöningen 12 (Germany), Journal of Human Evolution, 2023 (University of Tübingen release) Kvavadze et al. — 30,000-Year-Old Wild Flax Fibers, Science, 2009 Gilligan et al. — Paleolithic eyed needles and the evolution of dress, Science Advances, 2024 (University of Sydney release) Hardy et al. — Direct evidence of Neanderthal fibre technology and its cognitive and behavioral implications, Scientific Reports, 2020 Trinkaus & Buzhilova — Diversity and differential disposal of the dead at Sunghir, Antiquity, 2018 (as reported by Archaeology Magazine) Splitstoser et al. — Early pre-Hispanic use of indigo blue in Peru, Science Advances, 2016 O'Sullivan et al. — A whole mitochondria analysis of the Tyrolean Iceman's leather, Scientific Reports, 2016 Stevenson & Dee — Confirmation of the World's Oldest Woven Garment: the Tarkhan Dress, Antiquity, 2016 Virginia Postrel — The Fabric of Civilization: How Textiles Made the World, 2020 Wikipedia — Rana Plaza collapse; Body louse; Ötzi; Spinster Disclaimer: For educational and entertainment purposes. Some interpretations are actively debated among researchers and may change as new evidence emerges. Not professional advice. #HistoryOfClothing #HumanEvolution #Prehistory #AncientHumans #HumanHistory