"Uncovering Ancient Leatherworking Techniques Through Bone Fragments"

Researchers have discovered a bone fragment from the hip of a herbivore, probably a horse or an aurochs, that may have been used to tailor outfits to fit thousands of years before the invention of the needle. The artifact was discovered in an open-air site near the delta of a stream in Gavà, Spain, and dates back to around 39,600 years ago. The bone exhibits six events of modification, and the holes were made by the same basic technique but using six different tools. The researchers deduced that groups of punctures must have been made during different sessions, and some were purposely aligned and equidistant and would have produced holes for stitching leather pieces together.