H/T to JR Bentley for providing this link 🙂
“Uh Oh, The paradigm is shifting again… New find from Fels Cave. A MAMMOTH IVORY ROPE MAKER! More importantly it is a four strand rope maker unlike even the modern Rope, Wire Rope and Cable makers that are a standard three strands! A four strand Rope would have been by physical nature not only stronger, but much more flexible and actually easier to hold varied knotting patterns! I hope they are right on this… Shows a whole world of difference in assumed Cognitive abilities… If true, this is huge!”
JR Bentley is absolutely right! The paradigm IS changing and more and more it is changing rapidly. This latest find at Hohle Fels Cave in Germany is amazing and it changes everything we THOUGHT we knew about rope making and our ancestors. Apparently, they were making 4 strand rope 42 kya and would have been a very strong rope indeed. I have a 4 strand rope from a ship and over the years I’ve used it for a variety of things, even pulling trucks bigger than my own! And that rope is still as good as new! So our ancestors in Germany were making 4 strand ropes using ivory technology and the question is what were they using such a strong robe for?
The tool used to make these 4 strand robes is carved from ivory. Four small holes were placed close together on an 8 inch long strip of mammoth ivory. What is even MORE fascinating is that the maker of the tools intricately carved a spiral pattern in the holes much like the spiral patter we see today inside a modern gun barrel.
The tool was discovered by archaeologist Nicholas Conrad of the University of Tuebingen and his team. They fed raw fibers through the holes in a bronze replica and created a 4 strand rope and experiments that followed produced the same strong type of robe! Conrad says this tool is something new. The tool may not have been used to make rope but in my mind I think it HIGHLY likely that is was used for just that.
Hohle Fels Cave in the Ach Valley is a rich source of human prehistory artifacts. The cave is located in SW Germany. It’s best known for artifacts made by early humans who were likely the first modern humans, Homo sapiens, in Europe around 42 kya. The ivory rope making tool was originally believed to be some sort of artwork but nothing like it has ever been found. The spiral (rifling) pattern was obviously very carefully etched into the holds of the tool. Great care and precision were used by the tool-maker. This suggests some sort of practical use for the tool rather than artwork. Fiber forced through the 4 holes produces a 4 stand rope with a right hand twist. Using a bronze replica of the tool researchers made….this is incredible actually….a TEN FOOT rope within 15 MINUTES!! This was not simply a tool. It was a tool for mass production! Using this tool our ancestors could have made numerous 4 stranded ropes in no time!!
Researchers also believe the tool may have been used for making mats. The team is currently testing a variety of materials over the next year using the replica to see if the tool proves effective in all seasons. Apparently, you can use just about any plant with long fibers with the tool. Using strands about 3 feet long and the tool you can wind the next 3 ft segment into the other one and they shoot out of the other side of the tool “like large strands of spaghetti.”
I think it highly likely that the first modern humans in Europe were using such tools for rope making and for making mats and possibly for making other items. Our ancestors were ingenious and innovative! They were not the “cave men” we’ve been told they were. And their cognitive abilities OBVIOUSLY were higher than we think! They may have used the mats to sleep on or sit on and they would have used the ropes to help them construct shelters, bring home game meat, and a host of other things pretty much as we use ropes today, in fact! I think this is an incredible find!!
For more on this find go to: