Pleistocene Knotting

Study of knots in material culture

“…Studies into knot strength and suitability have been carried out in studies comparing different types of rope and different knots tied, a factor extremely important to those who use knots for purposes such as climbing. It is known that 4 Lauren A. Scanlon when a knot is tied in a piece of rope it weakens the rope so it is important to choose your knot and rope carefully. Pieranski et al [12] studied the strength of knots by finding the breaking point of knots when under strain.…”

“…It is difficult to say when the first knot was used, as knots are usually made of perishable material and so are subject to decay, but artefacts which probably require knots have been found dating as far back as 300,000 years ago [4]. Such material knots can be found in sites where bodies and artefacts have been preserved in conditions with sub-zero temperatures, a completely dry environment or others which prevent decomposition [5].…”

The earliest evidence of ocean navigation

“…These few items provide no more than a glimpse of the period's non-lithic technology, but they indicate the effectiveness of these hominids in working wood and presumably other perishable materials. The use of beads and pendants during Lower Palaeolithic times (Bednarik, 1992(Bednarik, , 1997b indicates not only that cordage of some form was known and used, it also suggests the ability to produce knots (Warner & Bednarik, 1996).…”

“…A worked reindeer antler from Husum, Schleswig-Holstein (Germany) may be a boat rib of a skinboat of the Ahrensburgian, an Epipalaeolithic tool tradition of the early Holocene (Ellmers, 1980). Indirect evidence for 1057-2414/97/030183 +9 $25.00/0 na970092 ocean navigation in Europe is the occupation of the Greek island of Kefallinia by Middle Palaeolithic people, which involved a sea crossing of perhaps 6 km (Warner & Bednarik, 1996), and the much later presence of obsidian from the island of Melos in the Frachthi Cave about 11 ka (11,000 years) ago (Renfrew & Aspinall, 1990). Islands to the west of Italy may also have been occupied in the Palaeolithic (d'Errico, 1994).…”

The Significance of the Earliest Beads

“…Although the ends of a string may be joined by means other than a knot, e.g. by the use of adhesive or by plaiting, these alternative means are either impracticable or they are technologically even more complex than the use of knotting (Warner & Bednarik, 1996). It is relevant to note that seafaring, too, is practically impossible without the use of ropes and knotting.…”