12,000-Year-Old Textiles Found Oregon
Archaeologists working in an Oregon cave have discovered evidence of sewn materials from the end of the last Ice Age, offering a rare glimpse into the technological skills of early North Americans. The find represents some of the oldest preserved textile evidence in North America, revealing sophisticated craftsmanship during the transition from the Pleistocene epoch.
- The artifacts were primarily discovered in Cougar Mountain Cave in central Oregon, a site first excavated in 1958 by an amateur archaeologist named John Cowles; the items remained in a private collection before being transferred to the Favell Museum in Klamath Falls for recent study. - Among the 55 dated items from the cave are bone sewing needles, braided cords made from sagebrush and other plant fibers, and, most notably, two pieces of sewn animal hide. - Radiocarbon dating confirmed the items are between 11,700 and 12,900 years old, placing them in the Younger Dryas, a period of abrupt cooling near the end of the last Ice Age. - Analysis of the most significant artifact revealed it to be North American elk hide stitched together with a thread made from a combination of plant fibers and animal hair. - The research, led by Richard L. Rosencrance of the University of Nevada, Reno, highlights a technological link to the present day, as some basketry techniques observed are still used by the Klamath and Paiute tribes. - The dry conditions of the Cougar Mountain and nearby Paisley Caves are exceptional, preserving about 80% of all radiocarbon-dated organic artifacts from the Ice Age ever found in North and South America. - The discovery provides the world's oldest direct evidence of sewing, suggesting that early inhabitants used tailored, close-fitting garments for better insulation against the harsh Ice Age climate.
