The two pieces of animal skin, joined by a strip of cord, date back more than 12,000 years.
The entrance of Cougar Mountain Cave where artifacts were found dating back to more than 12,000 years old and where the oldest known sewn material was found.
Brent McGregor
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Illustrations and images of sewn hide and other hide items from Cougar Mountain Cave in central Oregon. The items are thought to be the oldest examples of sewn material ever discovered, dating back more than 12,000 years.
Richard L Rosencrance
Researchers in Oregon and Nevada have determined that artifacts found inside Cougar Mountain Cave in Central Oregon are the oldest known examples of sewn hide. The items were preserved inside dry caves for more than 12,000 years and provide rare examples of what researchers say is likely early clothing dating back to the late Ice Age.
The collection of 55 items includes bone sewing needles, braided cord made from plant fibers, and sharpened projectile points. But the most notable among them are the two pieces of animal skin stitched together with cord that are older than anything else like them found in the world.
The sewn hides were interpreted to be “the margin of a piece of tight-fitted clothing, moccasin, bag or container, or part of a portable shelter,” according to the researchers’ analysis, published Feb. 4 in the journal Science Advances.
“Being able to get a glimpse of what those things are really like and confirming what raw materials, what plants and animals they used to make these things, is hardly ever attainable,” said lead author Richie Rosencrance, a researcher based at the University of Nevada, Reno, who also works closely with the University of Oregon.
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Rosencrance’s co-authors included researchers from the University of Oregon and Eastern Oregon University.
While it’s rare to find items made from plants, wood and hide that have been preserved for so long, this research illustrates the deep ties that Indigenous people in Oregon have to their home, Rosencrance said. For example, the artifacts they studied show techniques still used today for basketry by members of the Klamath and Paiute tribes.
“This is kind of chronicling almost 12,000 years of shared technological knowledge,” he said.
Members of the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs and the Klamath Tribes could not immediately be reached for comment.
Artifacts made from organic materials usually decay. The items the researchers studied were found inside three cave sites in Central Oregon that are exposed to so little moisture they had been preserved since the Younger Dryas period, between 11,700 and 12,900 years ago during a cold period near the end of the last Ice Age.
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Cougar Mountain Cave, the Paisley Caves and the Connley Caves were used by people as temporary shelter across generations, Rosencrance said, hence the expansive collection of artifacts found there.
Such items “are extremely rare in Pleistocene archeological sites, limiting our ability to construct detailed models of population diasporas and cultural responses to climate change,” the paper reads.
The artifacts themselves were found decades ago. The sewn hide artifacts found inside Cougar Mountain Cave were recovered by a nonprofessional in the 1950s, Rosencrance said. Over the decades, they went from private ownership to the Favell Museum in Klamath Falls, where the team of researchers began studying them and used radiocarbon dating to determine their approximate age.
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CURRY COUNTY, Ore. (KPTV) – A Texas man wanted for child sex crimes was arrested in Curry County on Tuesday afternoon.
The Curry County Sheriff’s Office says Kenneth Leatherwood of Bastrop, Texas, was arrested with the help of Oregon State Police and U.S. Marshals just after 12:30 p.m.
Kenneth Leatherwood(Curry County Sheriff’s Office)
Leatherwood, who is accused of sex-related crimes involving a child in Texas, was reportedly found camping in a heavy wooded area near Lucas Lodge in Agness.
Investigators say Leatherwood has been on the run from Curry County law enforcement since June 16 after reports that he had been seen with a stolen car in the Agness area.
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Leatherwood was also believed to have stolen weapons with him.
His dog was also found and returned to the suspect’s family in good shape, according to the sheriff’s office.
PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – Fireworks are on sale in Oregon until July 6, but state and local rules limit where they can be used and what types are allowed.
In Portland, fireworks use and sales are banned year-round.
Fireworks are also banned on beaches and in state and national parks.
Statewide, fireworks that fly into the air, explode, act unpredictably or move more than 12 feet horizontally are illegal. Banned fireworks include sky lanterns, missiles, rockets, Roman candles, firecrackers, cherry bombs and M-80s.
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Fountains, sparklers, ground spinners and smoke devices are among the fireworks allowed under state rules.
Officials said people should not call 911 to report illegal fireworks. They said reports should go to the non-emergency line for the area.
First responders said there were 263 fires across Portland during last year’s fireworks season, and 27 were caused by fireworks.
For more details about fireworks regulation in Oregon, click here.
In Washington, fireworks sales legally begin Sunday and run through July 4.
GEARHART, Ore. (KATU) — Another gray whale washed up on the Oregon coast last week, this time in Gearhart, according to Seaside Aquarium.
The 41-foot-long male had been dead for months before washing up on the beach, Seaside Aquarium general manager Keith Chandler said.
He noted that there have been 19 total whale strandings or carcasses washing up on beaches just this year on the Oregon coast region.
The Cascadia Research Collective is reporting at least 30 on Washington coastline alone. | TIMELINE
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Of those deaths, more than half were at least partially attributed to malnutrition. That could have been the cause in more strandings, however, necropsies were not performed in roughly a dozen of the 30 strandings.
Chandler said strong wind from the west this year has been contributing to why coastal towns are seeing a lot of whales and other things washing up on shore. However he also noted that many of the Grey whales washed ashore were emaciated with necropsies showing signs of malnourishment.
“The food sources have been compromised. The warmer water means the nutrients that they’re getting aren’t as good, so the whole food chain is kind of not as healthy,” Chandler said.
He pointed to the warming waters with climate change as the main reason noting that warm water plankton–Grey Whale’s main food source–is thinner and has fewer nutrients than plankton in cooler waters.
Chandler says this whale will not have a necropsy done because of its level of decomposition.
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“The fresher ones, the team from Portland State [University] will come down and they’ll go in and do measurements, take samples and stuff, measurements of the internal organs. But on one this decayed, you won’t gain anything from it scientifically. And it’s just kind of a mess to do when they’re this rotten,” he said.
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You can report a whale stranding to the West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network Hotline by calling 1-866-767-6114.
