Rare Mammoth Ivory Tool Offers Evidence Of Ropemaking In Central Europe More Than 35,000 Years Ago
The rope is one of the oldest human tools, and it played a crucial role in the daily lives of many ancient civilizations. Drawings found in Egyptian tombs, dating back 6,000 years, depict ropes being used to transport enormous stones utilized in pyramid construction. However, evidence of rope usage predates even the Egyptians. Fossil fragments discovered in caves have been carbon-dated to approximately 17,000 years ago. Furthermore, around 2800 B.C., the Chinese mastered using superior hemp fibers for rope-making.
Ropes have been a vital tool for humanity, with their usage dating back several millennia. Credit: Adobe Stock – Jiffy PH๏τography
Scientists have uncovered evidence people living in central Stone Age Europe had knowledge of ropemaking. While excavating in the Hohle Fels Cave in southern Germany, archaeologists made a rare discovery.
Researchers successfully pieced together 15 fragments of mammoth ivory found at the site to construct an almost intact rope-making tool. The reconstructed implement measures approximately 20 centimeters long and is characterized by four circular holes, each intricately engraved with a spiral groove.
The Hohle Fels cave is a significant archaeological site ᴀssociated with the Aurignacian culture of the Upper Paleolithic period. The e World Heritage cave Hohle Fels was excavated for the first time in 1870. Scientists have continued to examine this important site, and the artifacts unearthed from this location are among the earliest known instances of prehistoric art and musical instruments, making them extremely valuable for our understanding of early human history.
Not so long ago, scientists recovered a fragment of a carefully carved ivory figurine that gives one of the most famous Ice Age works of art a new look.
Unique Perforated Baton
Radiocarbon dating of this remarkable mammoth ivory bone used for ropemaking shows it was turned into a tool some time between 35,000 and 40,000 years ago. It is a legacy of Eurasia’s ancient Aurignacian culture that was marked by a great diversification and specialization of tools, including the invention of the burin, or engraving tool, that made much of the art possible.
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. PH๏τo: H. Jensen, University of Tübingen.