When Did We Stop Being Naked?

Of course, the ancient Egyptians were probably not the first people to ever wear clothing, but we haven’t found any clothes older than the Tarkhan Dress. So how can we figure out when we first started wearing clothes? Well, it turns out that some of our best evidence for clothing in the past comes from a pretty unlikely - and kinda gross - place.

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[HarryTheArchaeologist]

Whilst working in archaeology the only 'clothing' I found were buttons and usually bits of leather. But finding those items always felt so much more personal than the usual pot and such you pull out the ground

[YoungGandalf]

The Tarkhan Dress survived for 5000 years. Dang... I'm lucky if a shirt lasts me a year! Vintage clothing is so much higher quality.

[scaber]

I a bit surprised they didn't reference the 5300 year old "Otzi the Iceman" find since he was found to be wearing clothing and using equipment from five mammal species including goat leather leggings, brown bear fur hat, and a goat and sheep overcoat.

[Riddlewizard]

I would propose that clothing probably originated around the same time as blankets. Because somebody had to have thought "I like this warm thing. I need to figure out a way to bring it with me without holding it in place. If I did that, I could go to other places and still be warm.".

[annefoley]

Sometimes I find it hard to relate to ancient history and deep time, but this instantly reminds me what humans have always been. It makes my heart sing!

[MrBrew]

That bit about the neanderthal clothing likely being draped got me thinking about the difference between a cloak and a blanket. I'd say it becomes clothing once it is modified to stay on the shoulders more easily so you can walk about with the blanket cloak. And all that got me thinking about the invention of blankets themselves. Imagine that first guy freezing to death near a pile of dead mammoth or wolf, and being like... ima crawl under that dead stuff so I don't die, then later when the sun is up and he is moving on dude is smart enough to be like hmm I might need some of this tonight, and starts skinning it, and walks away with the first blanket.

[michaelcaffery]

As a tropical species we must have had clothing to move north into Europe and Asia. I watched a tv program about Brazilian government workers charged with taking care of the interaction between native tribes and loggers and farmers etc. They contacted some who had had bad experiences with incomers. What was interesting (to me) was they wore no clothes but were given some when they asked. After a while the interviewer was talking to one man who said he now felt embarrassed to be without clothes. Whether this was from some sort of modesty or that he felt inadequate compared to the culture of the 'developed' world was unclear.

[ForestGirlTeresa]

I liked the info about the bast fibres. I made my first twine out of common reed grass. Then I used corn husks, sweetgrass, dogbane fibres and even wild iris leaves. I knitted, wove and crocheted the twine into cloth or bags. No one taught me to twist rope; a lot of experimentation was involved. I like to imagine our ancestors doing something similar. Once you discover a technique, then it becomes easy to expand on it. Thanks for a thought-provoking presentation.

[PAVANZYL]

The first man that walked into a thorn bush invented the loin cloth.

[megansfo]

I think ancient textiles are fascinating, but I'd never heard of the 5000 year old egyptian shirt dress. That is amazing! Id love to see the actual clothing the ancients wore, but never will. It's too bad so little of it lasted.

[leifharmsen]

I'm still naked. I'm naked right now!

[FloozieOne]

The idea that early clothing was made of bast fibers is a very reasonable one. Bast are long flexible fibers that help to support the stems of plants and are sometimes called "inner bark". Some of the plants that have them include flax (from which linen is made), hemp, jute, kenaf, kudzu, linden, milkweed, nettle, okra, paper mulberry and ramie. It is not difficult to collect these but it is very time-consuming. Ancient peoples must have known every plant in their area well so it isn't surprising that they learned there were many uses for them.

[yokhawanha]

I lived in bali, some part of the island kinda slow in modernization, i remembered when i was a kid a lot of grown up women in the more remote village rarely wear a top, and nobody questioned it, it just how it was normal there, later everyone started to wear a top, i asked one of the villager, they said they felt embarrassed when their family that lived in the city visited wearing fully clothed modern clothes, or because the family gifted them modern clothes, or they said when they visited the city, they felt different.

[DoingItOurselvesOfficial]

I think we’ve been making and wearing clothing as long as we haven’t had full body hair. There’s no other way we could keep ourselves warm and protected from the sun. I don’t think we’ve ever been naked.

[tunneloflight]

Indirect evidence with needles goes back further yet to 50, 000 years ago with Denisovans. And those needles are astounding in their technology, indicating that needles existing for a very long time before that.

[DamonHowell-op]

I spent a lot of time in the woods when I was a kid. I found naturally splintered trees had super sharp points, and also found certain types of bark peeled off in thin strips. I used the splinters as weapons and wrapped the handles with the bark to protect my hands. Nobody taught me this, I just saw something cool and found a use for it. If a 6-year old can think it up then it must be natural. I didn't say "I need a sharp tool" then figure out a way to make one from scratch. I think figuring out how to make rope was a small step from swinging on vines, and finding a bird nest or a spider web would give you the idea of weaving. It apparently was long ago when it started though. Cool episode!

[dace]

damn, the fact that i though abt this question today randomly without saying it out loud and youtube STILL somehow managed to hear me

[Beryllahawk]

I follow a lady doing experimental archaeology and she's recreated bone textile tools and lots of other stuff - I think she's working from evidence found in the Swiss Alps, Paleolithic sites and so on. It's REALLY fascinating what you can do with strips of bark, nettles, and all sorts of other plant materials, not just flax!!!

[writingtotortureyou]

I like to think the earliest use of clothing was for a prank: so an ancient hominid either kills a lion or finds one dead. They then strip the hide off the body and drape it around themselves and sneak up on a tribe member and roar like a lion and scare that other member of the tribe.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[wendybutler]

All these comments are wonderful! Asking pertinant questions and adding pertinant info.
Lifetime learners are curious souls!