How to Cite

Jöris, Olaf et al. (Eds.): Zur Geschichte der Kleidung in der Steinzeit / A Stone Age History of Clothing: Mitteldeutscher Archäologentag vom 26. bis 28. September 2024 in Halle (Saale), Heidelberg: Propylaeum, 2026 (Tagungen des Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Halle, Volume 33). https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.1678

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Identifiers

https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.1678
ISBN 978-3-96929-468-0 (PDF)

Published

01/27/2026

Downloads

Download book (PDF/174MB)
Statistic

Authors

Olaf Jöris (Ed.), Oliver Dietrich (Ed.), Roberto Risch (Ed.), Harald Meller (Ed.)

Zur Geschichte der Kleidung in der Steinzeit / A Stone Age History of Clothing

Mitteldeutscher Archäologentag vom 26. bis 28. September 2024 in Halle (Saale)

Tagungen des Landesmuseums für Vorgeschichte Halle

How did people dress in the Stone Ages, what materials and techniques did they use and how can they be traced? Is the beginning of clothing a result of an evolving sense of shame or just a practical protection against the elements? Closely linked is the investigation of human-animal relationships and what influence these had on the choice of raw materials for the production of jewellery and clothing.
This volume addresses these and other key questions in an interdisciplinary approach combining archaeology, natural sciences, cultural and media studies. To this end, the present studies examine direct evidence such as burials as well as indirect evidence from figurative depictions or tools in order to analyse the evolutionary and social significance of clothing.

Dr Olaf Jöris is deputy head of the Pleistocene and Early Holocene Archaeology competence area at the Leibniz Centre for Archaeology at the Archaeological Research Centre and Museum of Human Behavioural Evolution MONREPOS in Neuwied. He teaches Pre- and Protohistory at Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. His research is dedicated to the understanding of stone artefacts and spatial analyses as well as Palaeolithic art.

Dr Oliver Dietrich is a researcher at the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt and head of public relations. He was previously a research fellow in the Göbekli Tepe project of the German Archaeological Institute. His research focusses on the period from the Early Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age between Southwest Asia and Central Europe.

Prof. Dr Roberto Risch is professor of Prehistoric Archaeology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. He studied history, archaeology and anthropology at the universities of Freiburg, Barcelona and Cambridge. His research focusses on the economy and ecology of prehistoric societies in the Mediterranean and Central Europe from the Neolithic to the Copper and Iron Age.

Prof. Dr Harald Meller is a state archaeologist and director of the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt. He studied pre- and protohistory, archaeology of the Roman provinces and ethnology at the Ludwig-Maximilian-Universität München and Freie Universität Berlin. He teaches as an honorary professor at the Institute for Art History, Archaeology and Classical Studies at the Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg. His research focusses on the Early Bronze Age in Central Europe and the cultural history of European pre- and protohistory.

Chapters

Table of Contents
Pages
PDF
Titelei
Contents
Olaf Jöris, Oliver Dietrich, Harald Meller, Roberto Risch
A Stone Age History of Clothing – an introduction
9-26
Section I: From fiction to science and back to fiction – Clothing reconstructions and perceptions
Pauline Coste
Clothing or nakedness in reconstructions of prehistoric humans
29-45
Kayleigh Saunderson, Lukas Dobler, Karina Grömer
Stone Age clothes in popular media – a balance between producers, audiences, and sciences
47-54
Section II: Reasons why Humans Dress
Ian Gilligan
The transition to clothing as dress
57-64
Shumon T. Hussain
Beyond dress, protection, and disguise: Re-inserting animals into the deep history of human clothing
65-76
Karina Grömer
Clothing, messages, and identity – theoretical and methodological approaches to clothing in Central European prehistory
77-88
Section III: Clothing as a Means of Protection and Well-being
Cristina de Guzman Strong
Evolution of the human skin barrier as innovative clothing
91-98
Olaf Jöris
Human evolution and the origins of Stone Age clothing
99-110
Thomas Junker
Kleidung und die evolutionäre Bedeutung der Scham
111-115
Wulf Schiefenhövel
Genital cover. Dress or evolved bio-psychological impulse?
117-127
Peter Vang Petersen
Tooth and amber amulets – magic elements of clothing in Danish Stone Age burials
129-142
Section IV: Materials and Methods in Clothing Production
Ivo Verheijen
Exploitation of carnivores for clothing: evidence of carnivore skinning from the Palaeolithic of Europe
145-149
Theresa Emmerich Kamper, Linda Hurcombe
Tannage technologies available for clothing in prehistory
151-158
Tuija Kirkinen
Feathers in Mesolithic burials
159-169
Veerle Rots, Sonja Tomasso
Twining things together: how functional approaches can help to understand the processing of fibres in the Palaeolithic
171-186
Eva IJsveld, Dorothee Olthof
Stone Age Textiles – Materials, techniques, and the value of reconstructions
187-199
Maria Herrero-Otal, Ingrid Bertin, Raquel Piqué, Francisco Martínez-Sevilla
Fibre-based technologies of the Last Hunter-gatherers and First Farmers in southern Europe: Baskets, cords and footwear from the Cueva de los Murciélagos site (Albuñol, Granada)
201-212
Mario Mineo, Juan F. Gibaja, Gerard Remolins, Mauro Rottoli, Laura Caruso-Fermé, Vanessa Forte, Berta Morell, Izaro Quevedo-Semperena, Niccolò Mazzucco
Textiles and textile production at the Neolithic site of La Marmotta, Anguillara Sabazia, Lazio (Italy)
213-223
Annelou van Gijn
Use-wear analysis of six bone tools found in the woman’s grave of Bad Dürrenberg
225-232
María Borao Álvarez, Natacha Caurette, François-Xavier Chauvière, Romain Malgarini, Jean-Marc Pétillon
The Palaeolithic origin of eyed needles
233-252
Andrew W. Kandel, Boris Gasparyan, Ani Adigyozalyan, Miriam N. Haidle
Reverse engineering of sewing with needle-and-thread: An interpretation of complementary technology at Aghitu-3 Cave, Armenia
253-267
Susanne Friederich, Andrea Moser, Jonathan Schulz
Flachsverarbeitung – Rottegruben im archäologischen Befund
Fallbeispiel Großgrimma, Burgenlandkreis
269-303
Martha Görlitz
Old spindle whorls – new yarn
The functionality of different types of whorls in practical use based on a case study of Feddersen Wierde, Cuxhaven District
305-315
Susanna Harris, Aris Palyvos
Cloth as human experience: looping, furs, and twining in the Mesolithic of north-west Europe
317-326
Section V: Clothing and body ornamentation: Some examples
Sibylle Wolf, Nicholas J. Conard
Fashion trends and body ornamentation in the Upper Palaeolithic of southwestern Germany
329-349
Shuqin Guo, Stefanie Kölbl, Marian Vanhaeren, Sibylle Wolf, Nicholas J. Conard
Possible visual impacts of double perforated ivory beads found in the Swabian Aurignacian
351-354
Martin Street, Elaine Turner
A Late Magdalenian ›coat of many colours‹?
A new look at well-worn evidence from the sites Gönnersdorf and Andernach-Martinsberg (Germany)
355-364
Albert Hafner
Neolithic clothing discoveries of the Alpine Region
Waterlogged finds from submerged and glacial sites
365-380
Section VI: Stone Age clothing and social differentiation as seen from burial contexts
Pauline Coste, Giacomo Giacobini
Richness and diversity of burial rituals in the Gravettian period: Potential for clothing reconstructions in documentaries
383-407
Marian Vanhaeren
Reconstructing clothing from Multi-Reference Analyses of personal ornaments found in Palaeolithic burials – three case studies and their implications
409-417
Kristiina Mannermaa, Riitta Rainio
Interpreting clothing culture in late Mesolithic burials of Northern Europe based on animal tooth ornaments
419-430
Susanne Friederich, Carola Oelschlägel, Björn Schlenker
Schnurkeramische Taschen im Saale-Unstrut-Gebiet – eine lokale Handwerkstradition mit hohem Symbolgehalt
431-466
Thorsten Uthmeier
Egalitarian or transegalitarian?
A socioeconomic perspective on status and prestige during the Magdalenian and the Mesolithic
467-488
Section VII: Clothing and Body Ornamentation in Stone Age Artistic Contexts
Olaf Jöris
A Palaeolithic and Mesolithic artistic record of clothing – an overview
491-522
Christina Marangou
Appearance and perceptions of Neolithic figurines – Nuances of covering and nudity: Evidence from Greece
523-544
Oliver Dietrich
Cloak, belt, and loincloth. 10th–9th millennium BC depictions of clothing from Göbekli Tepe and other Upper Mesopotamian sites
545-561
Simon Kaner
Wrapping the Stone Age body: Clothing Jōmon dogū ceramic figures from the prehistoric Japanese archipelago
563-572

Comments