Ancient Basket-Making: Hunter-Gatherers' 9500-Year-Old Craft Revealed
Researchers in Spain have discovered that hunter-gatherer societies on the Iberian Peninsula were making sophisticated baskets with decorative geometric patterns 9,500 years ago, more than 2,000 years earlier than previously thought. The study also revealed that sandals found in the same cave represent the earliest and most diverse set of plant-based footwear documented in the prehistory of Europe. Carbon-14 dating tests on objects found in the Cueva de los Murciélagos cave showed that the best-preserved baskets were crafted by hunter-gatherer communities in the Mesolithic era, challenging previous assumptions about the complexity of these societies. The findings expand our understanding of the technologies of foraging peoples at the time and highlight the remarkable preservation of artifacts in the cave.
