Bone needle
The first bone needles come from the early European Upper Palaeolithic , ( Aurignacia (40,000 to 31,000) and Gravettia ), however, do not yet have a needle eye . The decorated bone needle from Abri Lartet is dated to around 32,000 BC. Dated. Prehistoric needles were made from ivory , antler, or bone. There is no evidence for wooden needles. Needles from Magdalenian occur between France and Siberia . The oldest needles had a split end for the "thread" which was an animal intestine or tendon. The thread was pinched in the gap. From the Solutréen (22,000 to 18,000 BC) needles have an eye and are known as sewing needles.
Prehistoric bone needles were preferably made from the metatarsal bones of the reindeer and the lower leg bones of the hare because they are stable and elastic. In the Magdalenian region, the mountain hare is a frequent supplier of bones. The split bones served as the raw material for shavings from which the needles were carved. It is questionable whether they were sanded, the polishes on the found objects (e.g. Buhl Woman , Cairnpapple Hill , Dolmen on Dösabacken , Rothestein Cave , Scharzfeld Stone Church ) may show signs of use. A grindstone comes from the hollow rock , the size of which could have been used for this purpose. The eye can be created by drilling, cutting or a combination of both techniques.
The Magdalenian bone needles are between 30 and 100 mm long. Since they broke and were reworked, the differences in length are probably primarily due to the useful life.
Both the bone needles of Herxheim and the bone needle from Abri Lartet suggest that bone needles were used not only as tools, but also as jewelry. They may have acted as clasps or hairpins.
Bone needles were used in Europe until at least the Middle Ages, and in non-European cultures until the 19th and 20th centuries.
literature
- Lutz Fiedler, Gaëlle and Wilfried Rosendahl (eds.): Paleolithic from A to Z. Publications of the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museums, Volume 44, WBG, Darmstadt, 2011, p. 266
- Joachim Hahn : Recognition and determination of stone and bone artifacts. Archaeologica Venatoria, Volume 10, Tübingen, 1991, p. 289
