Archaeologists have discovered six of the world's oldest stone needles while carrying out excavations near the shore of Lake Xiada Co in western Tibet.
Knewz.com has learned that unusual stone artifacts are around 9,000 years old.
Although discovered during an excavation project back in 2020, archaeologists were unsure about what these stone artifacts could be, and have only recently recognized them as sewing needles made of stone.
According to Science magazine, these needles are also the oldest tools made from grinding stone ever discovered in Tibet.
"Ultra-deep-field microscopy and 3D modeling revealed that Needle 1—the longest, widest, and thickest of the specimens—bore dense and deep marks running along its length on all sides, characteristic of scraping. These stripes were hidden behind finer, multidirectional grinding marks," the magazine article mentioned.
"This suggested the needle was first scraped into shape and then ground to give it a tip. The tip bore horizontal grinding marks covered by oblique scraping marks, hinting at further scraping to make it sharper."
The unique needles have a hole punched at the top, referred to as the "eye" of the needle by the paper published about the latest discovery, possibly done using a prehistoric drill. The archaeologists tried to recreate the drilling process using an obsidian "drill," and the process took the team around five hours.
"The whole process took at least seven times longer than making softer, more pliable bone needles, the researchers found," Science magazine noted.
Yun Chen, a graduate student at Sichuan University who was part of the latest research, said in a statement via the magazine, "Since they were harder and thicker than bone needles, we concluded that these stone needles may have been used to sew thicker materials, such as a tent."
The unique stone needles were made of tremolite, serpentine, actinolite, and talc, with the research paper mentioning that "modern humans of the Tibetan Plateau possess technological skills in ground technology and intentionally selected appropriate raw materials for processing stone needles... 8,900–8,500 [years ago]."
"Our analysis of stone needles suggests they represent a special adaptive behavior of modern humans after their spread to and the permanent settlement of the Tibetan Plateau, which has not yet been found elsewhere."
"Furthermore, the discovery of pigments on stone needles indicates their possible ornamental functions, which could be one of the earliest instances of symbolism on the Tibetan Plateau," the research noted.
The earliest needles ever discovered were made of bone and came from the Denisova Cave in Russia. These bone needles date back approximately 50,000 years.
However, prior to the identification of the stone needles discovered in 2020, the oldest specimens of its kind were around 2,700 years old (discovered in the Henan province of China).
On the other hand, radiocarbon dating of charcoal fragments and animal bones found with the needles in Tibet dated them to between 7049 and 6568 B.C., pushing back the advent of stone needles by over 6,000 years.
Furthermore, a microscopic examination of one of the needles revealed traces of "vivid red paint, rich in ochre pigment, that had once covered the entire needle," per Science magazine. "That pushes back the first use of ochre on the Tibetan Plateau by 4500 years, and makes the needle the oldest cultural symbol from Tibet."
It is worth noting that experts are divided on the specific function of the stone needles, as some have argued that they might not have been meant for sewing.
Francesco d’Errico, an anthropologist at the University of Bordeaux who was not part of the research team, believes that the tips of the needles are too "blunt" to be used for sewing tents, as the research proposes, and the red ochre suggests that it had a more symbolic function.
"The most parsimonious explanation is that they were used as personal ornaments," the Bordeaux University anthropologist argued, per Science magazine.
Edward Jolie, an archaeologist at the University of Arizona who called the research an “interesting and welcome” study, suggested that the needles may have been tools used to weave fishing nets.
"Given the site’s proximity to a lake, I would have liked to see the authors consider that possibility," Jolie said, via Science.