String
A three-ply cord fragment on a Neanderthal tool is the oldest evidence of the most useful invention nobody thinks about.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 5 thousand years
- Known to
- ± 3 thousand years
- Era
- Late Pleistocene, Quaternary
A six-millimetre length of three-ply cord, fibres twisted one way and plied the other, was found adhering to a stone tool at Abri du Maras in France and dated to around 50,000 years ago — made by Neanderthals. String underpins nets, snares, bags, fishing lines, hafting, clothing and every kind of binding, and it requires understanding twist and ply. Because fibre almost never survives, its history is nearly invisible, and this one fragment carries most of it.