Clothes of primitive people. Primitive costume

When answering the question " when did clothes appear"The opinions of scientists differ. According to the most cautious hypothesis, clothing appeared about 40 thousand years ago, which is confirmed by archaeological data, since the oldest found sewing needles date back to this time. According to the most daring hypotheses, the appearance of clothing could coincide with the loss human ancestors of the main part of the hair, which happened about 1.2 million years ago. There is also a hypothesis that the time of the appearance of the first clothing can be determined based on when body lice, which live only on clothing, appeared. Geneticists say that body lice separated from head lice at least 83 thousand years ago, and possibly even earlier than 170 thousand years ago.There are also bolder estimates of the time of appearance of body lice - from 220 thousand to 1 million years ago.

Most likely, clothing arose not so much as protection from the cold (tribes are known who went without clothing, even living in a harsh climate, for example, the Indians of Tierra del Fuego), but How magical protection from outside threats. Amulets, tattoos, and painting on the naked body initially played the same role as later clothing, protecting the owner with magical power. Subsequently, the tattoo patterns were transferred to the fabric. For example, the multi-colored checkered tattoo pattern of the ancient Celts remained the national pattern of Scottish fabric.

The first materials for clothing of primitive man were vegetable fibers and skins. The methods of wearing skins as clothing varied. This includes wrapping it around the torso and attaching it to the belt, which provides good cover for the pelvis and legs; putting it on the shoulders through the slot for the head (the future amice), throwing it on the back and tying the paws around the neck to create a warm cape in the form of a cloak. How more people complicated his clothes, the more various fasteners and additions appeared on them. These are claws, bones, bird feathers, animal fangs.

Clothing of the ancient Germans of the Stone Age:

At the Paleolithic site of Sungir (territory of the Vladimir region), the estimated age of which is 25 thousand years, in 1955 the burials of teenagers were found: a boy 12-14 years old and a girl 9-10 years old. The teenagers' clothes were trimmed with mammoth bone beads (up to 10 thousand pieces), which made it possible to reconstruct their clothes (which turned out to be similar to the costume of modern northern peoples). A reconstruction of clothing from the Sungir site can be seen in the following figure:

In 1991, the ice mummy of the primitive man “Ötzi”, who lived 3300 BC, was found in the Alps. Ötzi's clothes were partially preserved and were able to be reconstructed (see picture).

Ötzi's clothing was quite elaborate. He wore a woven straw cloak, as well as a leather vest, belt, leggings, loincloth and boots. In addition, a bearskin hat with a leather strap across the chin was discovered. The wide, waterproof boots were apparently designed for walking in the snow. They used bearskin for the soles, deerskin for the uppers, and bast for lacing. Soft grass was tied around the leg and used as warm socks. The vest, belt, windings and loincloth were made from strips of leather sewn together with sinew. Sewn to the belt was a pouch containing useful things: scraper, drill, flint, bone arrow and dry mushroom used as tinder.
In addition, about 57 tattoos of dots, lines and crosses were found on Ötzi's body.

The first person to wear clothes, according to historians, was a hunter during the Ice Age. As is known, this period was characterized by a cold climate on the planet, which made the existence of primitive man especially uncomfortable. Clothing carried the function of protection from cold, wind and precipitation. It was made from the skins of various animals, it was rough, shapeless, but it performed the main function - it made it possible to live in the conditions of the north. The skins went through several stages of processing, namely: scraping, drying, softening and making sheets of the required length and width.

The first stage consisted of animal skin they secured them to the ground with stakes and scraped them clean. After the skin was cleanly scraped, it was pulled tightly onto stones, trees - anything that could help prevent the skin from tightening and drying out during the drying stage. The dried skin had to be softened; it was beaten with stones, wooden sticks, and stretched by hand. And the finished skin was cut using a pointed stone into separate pieces, which in turn were pierced with a special stone (the prototype of a modern awl) and holes were made. Large skins were sewn together with thin strips of leather; a little later, a prototype for modern threads appeared - horsehair, durable and more flexible than a thin strip of leather.

A little later, a stone needle was invented, and they were also made from bones and horns. This made it possible to sew animal skins more accurately, and clothes began to take on clearer shapes—pants, tunics. Bags and shoes were also made from skins, tied to the feet with leather strips.

It was here that, along with the need to protect his body from the cold, primitive man began to care about aesthetics appearance. There was a desire to decorate clothes. The first decorations were made of stones, shells, and clay figurines.

When agriculture appeared along with hunting, primitive man noticed that some plants, or rather their parts, gave color when wet. For example, tree bark and nut shells are red, indigofera leaves are blue, and lawsonia leaves are yellow to brown. Clothes began to be dyed.

Along with dyeing clothes, people learned to make fabrics from plant fibers (flax, bast), as well as to obtain yarn from animal wool. These fabrics were also dyed, and some kind of tunics and trousers were sewn from them.

Judging by the rock paintings, both men and women wore jewelry. These were beads made of pebbles, seeds, necklaces made of shells, feathers, bones of fish and animals, horns, teeth and tusks. Bead threads were made from thin strips genuine leather, and later - from plant fibers.

Attention was also paid to hairstyles. They were braided into a kind of braid and decorated with wooden combs and pins made of bones and stones; shells and teeth were also used to decorate hair.

Thus, depending on the conditions of existence in the cold climate of the Ice Age and the availability of improvised means, primitive man became a trendsetter for clothing made of fur, decorated with pebbles, shells and fish bones, as well as fur shoes secured with leather laces on the leg.

Hunters of the last Ice Age were probably the first people to wear clothing. They needed it for protection from the cold. Clothes were made from animal skins sewn together with strips of leather. Animal skins were first secured on pegs and scraped out. They were then washed and stretched tightly over a wooden frame to prevent them from shrinking as they dried. The tough, dry skin was then softened and cut to make clothing.

The clothes were cut out, and holes were made along the edges with a pointed stone awl. The holes made it much easier to pierce the skins with a bone needle. Prehistoric people made pins and needles from shards of bone and antler, which they then polished by grinding them against stone. The scraped skins were also used to make tents, bags and bedding.

The first clothes consisted of simple pants, tunics and cloaks, decorated with beads made of painted stones, teeth, and shells. They also wore fur shoes tied with leather laces. Animals provided skin instead of fabric, sinew instead of thread, and bone instead of needles. Clothing made from animal skins protected against cold and rain and allowed primitive people to live in the far north.

Some time after the beginning of agriculture in the Middle East, wool began to be made into cloth. In other parts of the world, plant fibers such as flax, cotton, bast and cactus were used for these purposes. The fabric was dyed and decorated with vegetable dyes.

Stone Age people used flowers, stems, bark and leaves of numerous plants to obtain dyes. The flowers of the gorse and the tincture's navel produced a range of colors - from bright yellow to brownish-green.

Plants like indigowort and woad produced rich Blue colour, while the bark, leaves and shell of the walnut provided the reddish-brown color. The plants were also used for tanning hides. The skin was softened by soaking in water with oak bark.

Both men and women in the Stone Age wore jewelry. Necklaces and pendants were made from all kinds of natural materials. Brightly colored pebbles, snail shells, fish bones, animal teeth, seashells, eggshell, nuts and seeds - everything was used.

From rock paintings in caves and designs found in burials, we know of a wide variety of materials used in Stone Age jewelry. Shells were highly prized and some were traded over long distances. Other materials included deer teeth, mammoth and walrus tusks, fish bones and bird feathers.

Later they also began to make beads - from semi-precious amber and jadeite, jet and clay. The beads were strung on thin strips of leather or twine made from plant fibers. Stone Age people believed that wearing a leopard bone necklace gave them magical powers.

Other jewelry included bracelets made from elephant or mammoth ivory. Strings of shells and teeth were turned into beautiful jewelry for the head. Women braided their hair and pinned it with combs and pins. People probably painted their bodies and lined their eyes with dyes like red ochre. They may also have had tattoos and piercings.

When answering the question " when did clothes appear"The opinions of scientists differ. According to the most cautious hypothesis, clothing appeared about 40 thousand years ago, which is confirmed by archaeological data, since the oldest found sewing needles date back to this time. According to the most daring hypotheses, the appearance of clothing could coincide with the loss human ancestors of the main part of the hair, which happened about 1.2 million years ago. There is also a hypothesis that the time of the appearance of the first clothing can be determined based on when body lice, which live only on clothing, appeared. Geneticists say that body lice separated from head lice at least 83 thousand years ago, and possibly even earlier than 170 thousand years ago.There are also bolder estimates of the time of appearance of body lice - from 220 thousand to 1 million years ago.

Most likely, clothing arose not so much as protection from the cold (tribes are known who went without clothing, even living in a harsh climate, for example, the Indians of Tierra del Fuego), but as magical protection from outside threats. Amulets, tattoos, and painting on the naked body initially played the same role as later clothing, protecting the owner with magical power. Subsequently, the tattoo patterns were transferred to the fabric. For example, the multi-colored checkered tattoo pattern of the ancient Celts remained the national pattern of Scottish fabric.

The first materials for clothing of primitive man were plant fibers and skins. The methods of wearing skins as clothing varied. This includes wrapping it around the torso and attaching it to the belt, which provides good cover for the pelvis and legs; putting it on the shoulders through the slot for the head (the future amice), throwing it on the back and tying the paws around the neck to create a warm cape in the form of a cloak. The more a person complicated his clothing, the more various fasteners and additions appeared on it. These are claws, bones, bird feathers, animal fangs.

Clothing of the ancient Germans of the Stone Age:

At the Paleolithic site of Sungir (territory of the Vladimir region), the estimated age of which is 25 thousand years, in 1955 the burials of teenagers were found: a boy 12-14 years old and a girl 9-10 years old. The teenagers' clothes were trimmed with mammoth bone beads (up to 10 thousand pieces), which made it possible to reconstruct their clothes (which turned out to be similar to the costume of modern northern peoples). A reconstruction of clothing from the Sungir site can be seen in the following figure:

In 1991, the ice mummy of the primitive man “Ötzi”, who lived 3300 BC, was found in the Alps. Ötzi's clothes were partially preserved and were able to be reconstructed (see picture).

Ötzi's clothing was quite elaborate. He wore a woven straw cloak, as well as a leather vest, belt, leggings, loincloth and boots. In addition, a bearskin hat with a leather strap across the chin was discovered. The wide, waterproof boots were apparently designed for walking in the snow. They used bearskin for the soles, deerskin for the uppers, and bast for lacing. Soft grass was tied around the leg and used as warm socks. The vest, belt, windings and loincloth were made from strips of leather sewn together with sinew. A bag with useful things was sewn to the belt: a scraper, a drill, flint, a bone arrow and a dry mushroom used as tinder.
In addition, about 57 tattoos of dots, lines and crosses were found on Ötzi's body.

Along with housing, clothing arose as one of the main means of protection from various external influences. Some bourgeois scientists recognize this utilitarian reason for the origin of clothing, but many take idealistic positions and put forward as the main reasons a feeling of shame, aesthetic motivation (clothing supposedly arose from jewelry), religious and magic shows, etc.

Cloth- one of the oldest inventions of man. Already in the monuments of the late Paleolithic, stone scrapers and bone needles were discovered, which were used for processing and stitching skins. The materials for clothing, in addition to skins, were leaves, grass, and tree bark (for example, Tapa among the inhabitants of Oceania). Hunters and fishermen used fish skins, sea lion intestines and other sea animals, and bird skins.

Having learned the art of spinning and weaving in the Neolithic era, man initially used fibers from wild plants. The transition to cattle breeding and agriculture that occurred in the Neolithic made it possible to use the hair of domestic animals and fibers of cultivated plants (flax, hemp, cotton) for the manufacture of fabrics.

Embroidered clothing was preceded by its prototypes: a primitive cloak (skin) and a loin cover. Originates from the cloak various kinds shoulder clothing; subsequently, a toga, tunic, poncho, burka, shirt, etc. arose from it. Belt clothing (apron, skirt, trousers) evolved from the hip cover.

The simplest ancient shoes- sandals or a piece of animal skin wrapped around the foot. The latter is considered the prototype of the leather morshni (pistons) of the Slavs, the chuvyak of the Caucasian peoples, and the moccasins of the American Indians. Tree bark (in Eastern Europe) and wood (shoes among some peoples of Western Europe) were also used for shoes.

Headdresses, protecting the head, already in ancient times played the role of a sign indicating social status (headdresses of a leader, priest, etc.), and were associated with religious and magical ideas (for example, they depicted the head of an animal).

Clothing is usually adapted to the conditions of the geographical environment. In different climatic zones it differs in shape and material. Ancient clothing peoples of the tropical forest zone (in Africa, South America, etc.) - a loincloth, an apron, a blanket over the shoulders. In moderately cold and arctic regions, clothing covers the entire body. The northern type of clothing is divided into moderate northern and clothing of the Far North (the latter is entirely fur).

The peoples of Siberia are characterized by two types of fur clothing: in the subpolar zone - blind, that is, without a cut, worn over the head (among the Eskimos, Chukchi, Nenets, etc.), in the taiga zone - swinging, having a cut in the front (among the Evenks, Yakuts, etc.). A unique set of clothing made of suede or tanned leather developed among the Indians of the forest belt of North America: women had a long shirt, men had a shirt and high leggings.

Forms of clothing are closely related to human economic activities. Thus, in ancient times, peoples engaged in nomadic cattle breeding developed a special type of clothing convenient for riding - wide trousers and a robe for men and women.

As society developed, the influence of differences in social and marital status on clothing increased. The clothes of men and women, girls and married women; everyday, festive, wedding, funeral and other clothes arose. With the division of labor, various types of professional clothing appeared. Already in the early stages of history, clothing reflected ethnic characteristics (tribal, clan), and later national ones (which did not exclude local variations).

While satisfying the utilitarian needs of society, clothing at the same time expresses its aesthetic ideals. The artistic specificity of clothing as a type of decorative and applied art and artistic design is determined mainly by the fact that the object of creativity is the person himself. Forming a visual whole with it, clothing cannot be represented outside of its function.

The property of clothing as a purely personal item determined in its creation (modelling) the consideration of the proportional features of the figure, the age of a person, as well as private details of his appearance (for example, hair color, eyes). In the process of artistic design of clothing, these features can be emphasized or, conversely, softened.

This direct connection of clothing with a person gave rise to active participation, even co-authorship of the consumer in the approval and development of its forms. Being one of the means of embodying the ideal of a person of a particular era, clothing is made in accordance with its leading artistic style and its particular manifestation - fashion.

The combination of clothing components and items that complement it, made in uniform style and artistically coordinated with each other, creates an ensemble called a costume. The main means of imagery in clothing is architectonics.

Numerous tribes that settled in Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire (5th century) had a fundamentally different approach to clothing, which was not supposed to envelop the body, but reproduce its shape, giving a person the opportunity to move easily. Thus, among the peoples who came from the North and East, the main parts of clothing were coarsely woven trousers and a shirt. On their basis, such a type of clothing as tights developed, which occupied the main place in European costume for several centuries.