Page 24 - J. C. Turner "History and Science of Knots"

Pleistocene Knotting 13

or two, passes of one such strap, a more sophisticated technique); the method
of fastening is not clear on the figurine. Several depictions of females incised
on stone plaquettes also include hip belts, including two from the French site
La Marche, and one from the final Palaeolithic (about 11 000 years old) at the
Dutch site Geldrop, in which some objects appear to be suspended from the
belt. These probably non-utilitarian `garments' are almost without exception
accompanied by bracelets or armlets. There are no clear depictions of knots
on any of these examples, but there can be no doubt that knotting technology
not only existed then, but was already highly developed. The female figurines
occur especially around 22 000-28 000 years ago, although earlier and more
recent examples are also known.
Clothing and decorative attire can also be seen in some rock art, mostly
more recent than the figurines. Some Magdalenian art (10 000-15 000 years
old) from Europe seems to represent human figures with animal horns, tails
and sometimes skins; the Trois Freres `sorcerer' is the best known. These
may be purely imaginative, but if they do represent actual happenings, then
cordage and knots must have been used to fasten the objects to the body.
Headdresses, armlets, anklets and other decorative clothing seem to have been
represented in rock art from India and Australia; they would have certainly
required some knots. They have not been securely dated, but are probably
younger than the Magdalenian.
As yet, we have no actual remains that could possibly refer to Pleistocene
sea-going, anywhere in the world. That is, until the sea level settled roughly
where it is today, just under 10 000 years ago. This is not very likely to be
a coincidence. It is much more likely the result of a particular taphonomic
factor. Boats and any equipment used with them, such as paddles, oars, even
tools for fishing, whaling or sealing are not usually transported far from any
shore, which is why most of such evidence is now found in bogs and lowlands.
The lowland bogs of the late Ice Age, however, are without exception below
sea level today (due to the lower sea level of that entire period), hence any such
remains from that time, if they could have survived, are effectively beyond our
reach.
The first substantial sea voyage of which we have evidence is that under-
taken by anatomically modern humans to the continent of Sahul (or Greater
Australia, including New Guinea). It occurred over 60 000 years ago [32], at
a time when the sea level was 60-140 m below that of today. The voyagers
started from South East Asia; they could have used any of several routes, but
all have several water crossings, with at least one exceeding 90 km [9]. Even
with the northwest monsoon and the Leeuwin Current to aid them, they must
have spent quite a while out of sight of land. The extensive coastlines of south-
east Asia and the numerous nearby islands provided access to the abundant
shellfish, the most concentrated source of protein in any habitat 115, p. 134].