Wyoming archaeologists found 13,000-year-old eyed needles used to make garments at a prehistoric site, in a significant (and sophisticated) first. 

At LaPrele near Douglas, Wyoming, Spencer Pelton and a team of archaeologists had already explored an area where a Columbian mammoth had been killed or scavenged. 

However, an unlikely suite in the excavations, sharp needles complete with thread holes revealed that the early Americans used the game for much more than food. 

It doesn’t come as any surprise that Paleolithic humans consumed the whole animal for far more than sustenance, as harsh conditions would necessitate warm clothing, but the 32 needles made of bone recently discovered reveal an intricacy of craftsmanship and detail into the lives of our human ancestors. 

Moreover, they pinpoint a fascinating intersection between clothing and innovation that equipped early humans with the means to move to colder climates and even survive them. However, analysis had never been performed on these types of tools before.

In a new study, Wyoming State researchers reported “the first identifications of species and element used to produce Paleolithic bone needles,” and also the “oldest known bead” ever to be found in the Americas. 

Paleolithic tailored clothing production helped early humans to migrate

Between 2015 and 2022, Wyoming State researchers recovered 32 bone needles and one sole bead from the LaPrele Mammouth site to examine further. After all, it’s easier to manufacture clothes where the animal is rather than dragging the body back. 

Using zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS) and Micro-CT scanning, they analyzed the chemical composition of the bone, according to a recent press release.

Comparing the peptides, they established an impressive range of animals that provided the bones to make the needles: red foxes, bobcats, mountain lions, lynx, the American cheetah, and hares or rabbits. 

In presenting evidence for tailored garment production, researchers are highlighting an crucial innovation, as clothing that binds closely to the skin traps heat more effectively than draped clothing, along with stitched seams. 

Though the physical remains of Paleolithic clothing are sparse, “bone needles are a well-established archeological phenomenon evidence” in North American research, study authors explained.

More strikingly, this evolutionary step in dress “partially enabled modern human dispersal to northern latitudes and eventually enabled colonization of the Americas.”

However, “despite the importance of bone needles to explaining global modern human dispersal,” they continue in a press release, “archaeologists have never identified the materials used to produce them, thus limiting understanding of this important cultural innovation.” 

“Our results are strong evidence for tailored garment production using bone needles and fur-bearing animal pelts.” 

Animal bones at prehistoric sites hold new meaning

Bone needles emerged in Eurasia beginning circa 40,000 BP and in North American Paleoindian sites between 12,000 and 13,000 BP.

“The bones of fur bearers have received less attention as an indirect proxy for tailored garment production.”

Some animals possess pelts with tightly spaced hairs that trap a layer of stationary air near the skin’s surface. They are classically difficult to hunt, so their appearance in “archaeological assemblages” has been “hard to explain.”

The bone needles provide “compelling evidence that the earliest North Americans routinely trapped game.” They went out of their way to catch these trickier animals because of their skin.

“Our results are a good reminder that foragers use animal products for a wide range of purposes other than subsistence and that the mere presence of animal bones in an archaeological site need not be indicative of diet,” study authors conclude.