FASHION IN PREHISTORIC TIMES

By Lucian Blaga University from Sibiu with the cooperation of EURO INNOVANET srl

The living in Glacial and Post-Glacial Europe of humans imply the protection against the cold weather so we presume that clothing appear much earlier in time. That first archaeological evidence does not contradict an association of clothing specifically with modern humans, as the only tools that can be definitely associated with clothing, such as needles, are only about 40,000 years old. Earlier tools, such as scrapers, may have been used to prepare hides for clothing, but may also have been used to scrape flesh for food or some other purposes. In support of these theory came a molecular clock analysis indicates that body lice originated not more than about 72,000± 42,000 years ago; the mtDNA sequences also indicate a demographic expansion of body lice that correlates with the spread of modern humans out of Africa. These results suggest that clothing was a surprisingly recent innovation in human evolution.(Kittler et al 2003, 1415).Unfortunately the use of fur materials or of some baskets were not possible to find anymore because the perishable nature of the materials.

The earliest figurative representations in Eastern Europe are bone engravings more than 40 thousand years old, dating back to the end of the Mousterian phase. During the following Aurignacian and Gravettian phases, that still preceded the glacial maximum, numerous miniature objects of plastic art were created. Cave art (paintings, engravings, sculptures and bas-reliefs) became widely spread during the Solutrean and Magdalenien phases after the glacial maximum. Locations with abundant finds of Palaeolithic cave art have been discovered in Franco-Cantabria (Southern France and Northern Spain). Until the discovery of cave paintings in the Urals in 1959, cave art was considered as something characteristic of Western Europe only (Poikalainen 2001, 14). Palaeolithic figurative art of Siberia, Eastern and Central Europe is largely represented by miniature sculptures and engravings, but also by cave paintings discovered in two caves in the Southern Urals. Other forms of prehistoric art discovered in this area are ornamentation and jewellery (Poikalainen 2001, 16). The analyses of so called Venus statues were depicted with clothing, the different types of hair dress and some design models for decorative purposes. The archaeological contexts came with first jewelries.

Venus from Villendorf (Austria). Gravettian Culture, Willendorf-Kostenki Phase, aprox. 25000 BC. We can see hair dress. The body was painted in red ochre.

The best known example of miniature plastic art discovered in Dolni' Vestonice is an 11.5 cm tall burnt clay statuette of a female figure, also known as Venus of Dolni' Vestonice. While Palaeolithic human figures have generally no faces, Venus of Dolni' Vestonice, and particularly a small female head carved in mammoth ivory found in the same area refute this notion. This unique 4.8 cm tall work of art may be considered a highly characteristic and also the most beautiful female face among the Palaeolithic finds. These figures were most likely used as pendants. A unique example of female symbolism is a necklace of beads stylised in the shape of woman's breasts and carved from mammoth tusk. Jewellery is mainly represented by necklaces of snail shells, ivory beads and fangs of arctic fox. Other items of jewellery and ornamented objects can be found among the prehistoric artefacts of Dolní Vestonice, too. More than 2,000 shards of burnt clay, ceramic figures and fragments have been found during the excavations conducted in Dolní Vestonice. The extant ceramic figures are mostly zoomorphic: bear (7.5 cm), bear head  (4.7 cm), rhinoceros head (4.2 cm), lioness head (4.5 cm) (Figure 8), horse head (8 cm), reindeer head (3.8 cm) and two miniature mammoth figures
(Poikalainen 2001, 14; http://www.donsmaps.com/dolni.html for more images).
Almost all sites from now on have examples of art and jewelries.

A change came with the appearance of the first Neolithic communities when the new way of life based on settled villages with agriculture and herding changed and made a big impulse to spiritual life.

The Neolithic Revolution implies innovation in the way of perception, in a way that can be defined as a symbolic revolution (term defined by Jacques Cauvin). The period seen a sudden explosion, n the earliest aceramic Neolithic, of small, three dimensional figures, some modeled in clay, others carved in stone. There are also many animal figurines, among which bulls are often recognizable. Those schematic figurine prove a psycho-cultural change in human mentalities (THE HUMAN PAST 1995 2005, 215-216).

Because of the perishable nature of textile goods, information found about the beginning stages of weaving is sketchy, and tracing the development of textiles is a difficult task and a tremendous challenge. Due to nature's hazards of erosion, climatic conditions, insects, and fire, few examples of early woven fabrics survived. Therefore, much of what is written about primitive weaving is based on speculation. There are, however, certain circumstances under which remnants of fabrics have survived: arid regions, bog lands, sealed tombs, and extremely cold areas. Because of these artifacts, we are fortunate to have some examples of early textiles and weaving tools (Wylly 2001). Some models could be reconstructed after the figurines or from potery decoration. Other are seen in etnographical contexts. Some few real remains could be recovered entirely as Iceman is. The use of clay, spondylus, gold and cooper objects were used for starting of a complex trade system becoming in the same time a prestige goods fashionable.

We are presentig three case studies relating the textile use in Vinca area (developed by Cosmin Suciu), in the Northern Bulgaria (developed by DIMITAR CHERNAKOV REGIONAL MUSEUM OF HISTORY ROUSSE) and the textile objects from Icemen (at South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, http://www.iceman.it/en/clothing)