A stitch in time: Bone eyed needles from 40,000 years ago may have been the birth of fashion clothing!

Move over, Paris and Milan — 40,000 years ago, Siberia was the hottest fashion hotspot, thanks to a tiny, yet revolutionary tool: the eyed needle.

In a delightful twist on ancient history, archaeologists have suggested that eyed needles — tools like modern needles made from bone — were not just for practical sewing but were the ancient equivalent of haute couture, transforming clothing from dull protection to dazzling self-expression.

Needle little something extra

The reason this is such an important finding is because the usage of eyed needle tools was an exceptional development for ancient humans. Prior to eyed needle tools, our ancestors were using bone awls, another sewing tool made from sharpened deer bones, that were used to poke holes in leather for clothing and basketmaking.

The earliest known eyed needles we have managed to find are from 40,000 years ago in Siberia. This means that even during what we can only presume to be a very stressful Stone Age time, our ancestors were thinking about their appearance. This is evidenced by the fact that they put extra effort into making the difficult-to-manufacture eyed needles, instead of creating the standard bone awls.

Unlike the basic bone awl, which was good for simple, fitted garments, the eyed needle was perfect for attaching beads and other bling to their threads. These needles could have helped with the production of more complex and layered clothing.

"That's why the appearance of eyed needles is particularly important," explains study author Ian Gilligan."It signals the use of clothing as decoration. Eyed needles would have been especially useful for the very fine sewing required to decorate clothing."

Stitching society together

This revolution had profound implications. Suddenly, clothes weren't just about staying warm — they were about making a statement. As humans moved into colder regions, they used their fashion sense to form larger and more complex societies, bonding over shared styles and symbols. Now, the social practice that has endured through the ages, shaping our behaviour and societal structures.

"We take it for granted that we feel comfortable wearing clothes and uncomfortable if we're not wearing clothes in public," Gilligan notes. "But how does wearing clothes impact the way we look at ourselves, the way we see ourselves as humans, and perhaps how we look at the environment around us?"

As we continue to unravel the threads of our past, we see how something as simple as a needle and thread could stitch together not just garments, but the very fabric of society itself. So next time you don your favourite outfit, remember — you’re part of a long tradition of style and self-expression that dates back to the first prehistoric fashionistas

The findings of this research have been published in Science Advances and can be accessed here.