Oceania Publications, University of Sydney

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1 Oceania Publications, University of Sydney Clothing and Modern Human Behaviour: Prehistoric Tasmania as a Case Study Author(s): Ian Gilling Source: Archaeology in Oceania, Vol. 42, No. 3, Climate Change and Archaeology in the Pacific - Part I (Oct., 2007), pp Published by: Oceania Publications, University of Sydney Stable URL: Accessed: 09/05/ :51 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. Oceania Publications, University of Sydney is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Archaeology in Oceania.

2 Archaeol Oceania 42 (2007) Clothing and modern human behaviour: prehistoric Tasmania as a case study IAN GILLIG AN Keywords: Clothing, Tasmania, human cold tolerance Abstract A general model is outlined showing how the prehistoric Pleistocene/Holocene boundary. An 'insular* model based development of clothing for thermal reasons may be relevant to the on thermal principles is outlined, linking environmental and emergence of modern human behaviour. A distinction drawn human behavioural change in this crucial period based on between simple and complex clothing, with the latter leading to the correlates and repercussions of clothing. Some repercussions that can ultimately became decoupled from thermal background material is briefly covered, such as thermal and contingencies. Archaeological correlates of complex clothing can clothing physiology and details of palaeoenvironmental be linked to attributes of modern human behaviour, some but not reconstructions. More extensive treatments are available in all of which made a transient appearance in late Pleistocene Gilligan (2007, in press a). A key assumption is that the Tasmania. Cave sites in the southwest of the island have yielded origin and development of clothing prior to the Holocene bone tools and distinctive stone scraper tools, along with evidence was predicated largely if not exclusively on human thermal for the targeting of prey species and parietal artworks in some needs (see Gilligan Submitted). caves. Thermal conditions in late Pleistocene Tasmania approached the known limits of human cold tolerance, necessitating the use of clothing. The archaeological record is Thermal physiology reviewed in relation to likely technological and other correlates of the manufacture of clothing. It is argued thathermal parameters The were a principles and experimental significant aspect of findings the relating to human human response to climate change in responses to Tasmania. These varying thermal conditions have been well developments invite comparison with those documented witnessed outside the (e.g. Jessen 2001; Parsons 2003: ). The region during the Upper and late Middle Pleistocene, particularly in optimal ambient northern middle temperature for latitudes and also in lightly-clothed people is 25 C Africa, where they are interpreted as indicating the (Fänger 1970: ), and emergence of shivering begins at around 13 C. The modern human behaviour. chilling effect of wind is evident in the wind-chill index (Steadman 1995). Reports of accidental exposure demonstrate how hypothermia can lead rapidly to death This paper explores links between the development of (e.g. Collins 1983; Tanaka and Tokudome 1991). Cold clothing and tolerance is behavioural modernity and, as a case improved through acclimatisation (e.g. study, examines archaeological evidence for human responses to Bodley 1978), and routinely unclothed populations such as changing thermal the conditions Australian during and after the last ice Aborigines show superior cold age responses (e.g. in Tasmania. It begins with a brief Hicks et outline of al the main issues 1931; Scholander et al 1958), but these in thermal physiology and their relevance to improved defences are Of little use prehistoric during intense and humans. The focus is on the limits of cold continuous tolerance, and exposure' (Jessen 2001:152). Humans can adapt how clothing functions to provide thermal to insulation. cold, but only down to a 'critica level' below which Protection from wind chill is the most important aspect, and hypothermia begins within hours (Hensel 1981:220). wind chill levels in Tasmaniapproached these limits Published during findingsuggest that the safe limit for modernthe late Pleistocene. If clothing was required, no direct day humans, beyond which the risk of hypothermia can evidence of such garments has survived, but the become acute, occurs at a still-air temperature of archaeological record can be examined for indirect evidence approximately -1 C. For habitually unclothed humans, of clothing. The Tasmanian developments are then tolerancextends to around -5 C. While the extent of cold considered in relation to trendseen elsewhere across the tolerance among some indigenous peoples such as those of Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America is surprising (e.g. Darwin 1839:234-5), their behavioural cold School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, adaptations included shelters made from tree branches, Australian National University, ACT 0200, Australia. guanaco pelts and seal skins, and they also utilised sealskin ian.g@bigpond.net.au capes and long robes of woolly guanaco skins. 102

3 Clothing physiology The thermal insulating properties of clothing are detailed in various studies of clothing physiology (e.g. Siple 1945; Newburgh 1949; Burton and Edholm 1955:58; Fourt and Hollies 1970; Hensel 1981; Watkins 1984). In essence, clothing functions as thermal insulation by trapping air in layers and in tiny pockets close to the skin surface, reducing the thermal gradient between the body and the external environment. The effective thermal resistance of clothing is indicated by the 'clo' unit (Gagge et al 1941:429). Generally, each extra layer of clothing adds nearly 1 clo: donning an overcoat provides about 2 clo of insulation, while Arctic clothing (4 layers) provides about 4 clo of thermal protection (Sloan 1979:17). However, the utility of clo units for pre-holocene clothing is limited, for two reasons. First, the measures are derived from modern-day tailored garments manufactured from woven fibres, the thermal qualities of which are quite different from those of prepared animal hides and furs. Second, clo units apply to wind-free conditions, and so may give a misleading impression of the protective value at colder wind chill levels, especially where prehistoric garments may have been draped rather than fitted. Simple vs. complex clothes I make a distinction between what I term 'simple' versus 'complex' clothing (Table 1). This is based on physiological principles but it also has important archaeological implications. The physiological distinction arises from two aspects that largely determine the thermal effectiveness of clothing. First, whether a garment is properly 'fitted', i.e. shaped to fit closely around the body, including the limbs, as opposed to being loosely draped over the body, leaving the limbs less protected. The second aspect is the number of layers of garments, with multiple layers requiring that at least the inner layer(s) are fitted. Or, put another way, if only draped garments are in use, practical considerations will mean that such clothing is generally restricted to a single layer. Draped, single-layered clothing provides only limited protection, generally up to around 1-2 clo, although a thick pelt may provide considerably more, sometimes up to 4-5 clo. However, regardless of the insulatory potential in stillair conditions, such open-style garments are prone to wind penetration. In contrast, fitted, multilayered clothing assemblages can readily provide 4-5 clo and offer superior wind chill protection, sufficient for survival in polar and sub-polar environments. The former may be termed 'simple' clothing, and the latter 'complex'. Complex clothing consists of garments that are shaped or fitted to more fully enclose the body and limbs. They can be combined into multi-layered assemblages, and provide virtually unlimited thermal protection, particularly in relation to wind chill. Also, the acquisition of complex clothing is associated with longer-term consequences, including the shifting of decorative and other social functions from the less-accessible skin surface onto the clothing. Simple clothes Structure fitted no yes number of layers Complex clothes Thermal physiology wind chill protection poor excellent still-air protection 1-2 clo 2-5 clo (generally) Technology (palaeolithic) scraping implements yes yes piercing implements no yes (generally) cutting implements no yes technological mode 3 4 Repercussions impairs cold tolerance no yes acquires decorative role no yes acquires social functions no yes promotes modesty/shame no yes becomes habitual no yes Table 1. Features distinguishing simple and complex clothes. Complex clothing: archaeology The archaeological significance of this distinction becomes apparent when we look at the technological implications. Where the raw materials are animal skins, simple garments require little more than basic skin-preparation techniques, mainly cleaning and scraping, which can be achieved with scraper tools. Complex garments, however, demand in addition tha the skins be shaped, which usually means they need cutting, especially in making the separate cylinders to cover the limbs, and these need to be joined together in some way, usually by sewing. Where multiple layers are used, the inner garments need to be more carefully prepared, with finer cutting and sewing to achieve the necessary close fit. Complex clothes, in other words, will tend to be associated with more specialised scraping, cutting and piercing implements. The advent of laminar or Mode 4 technologies (Clark 1977) signified a greater emphasis on cutting activities. For this reason, it also signified a greater capacity to manufacture complex clothing. In a Pleistocene context, humans with Mode 4 technocomplexes were better placed to manufacture complex clothing, and those without such clothing were restricted in terms of their potential environmental range. Complex clothing: repercussions Also of archaeological relevance, complex clothing differs dramatically from simple clothing in that, once it has been adopted, it tends to persist. Another consequence is that 103

4 complex clothing can set in motion a range of repercussions, many of which can ultimately become decoupled from thermal contingencies and even from clothing itself. In themselves, these tend to promote further developments in the technological, social and economic spheres. I term these repercussions insular9, meaning they tend to further insulate or separate humans from contact with their natural environment. The role of these repercussions in creating the modified environments and insular qualities of modern life cannot be pursued here (but see Gilligan in prep.). One aspect of archaeological interest is that complex clothing results in the human body becoming more completely, and routinely, covered. Not only does it cover more of the skin surface, and is more cumbersome to remove, but it also results in a more uniformly warm microenvironment around the body, leading to impairment of cold tolerance, all of which tends to result in its being worn on a less sporadic basis. Body adornment will therefore tend to shift from decorating the naked skin surface to decorating the garments, favouring the development of cultural motives for wearing clothes independent of any thermal contingencies. At a psychologicalevel, regular use of clothing (especially from infancy) can promote a sense of shame or modesty in relation to the unclad body, which again will encourage the use of clothes at a social level in addition to, and almost regardless of, environmental conditions. Ultimately, these insular effects become self-sustaining and self-reinforcing. They can promote ongoing cultural developments that become decoupled from their initial causes. The repercussions of complex clothing, in other words, can persist independently of thermal conditions, and even more-or-less independently of clothing. Europe in making such comparisons. The discoveries in parts of Africa (especially southern Africa) are particularly relevant (e.g. Henshilwood and Sealy 1997; Würz 1999; Henshilwood et al 2001). These point to an African origin of developments more traditionally seen as primarily European phenomena, including signs of modern human behaviour. There are also recent discoveries (and reinterpretations of pre-existing data) in central Eurasia, Siberia and the Russian Far East that provide archaeological signatures associated with the dispersal of humans into cold environments (e.g. Hoffecker 2002; Brantingham et al 2004). For comparative purposes data from Australia, often overlooked, should be of particular value in terms of unraveling the archaeological signatures of behavioural modernity. The advent of complex clothing can be linked quite directly to the increasing capacity of fully modern humans to inhabit cooler environments (Hoffecker 2005) and also, less directly, to other archaeological signatures of modern human behaviour (see McBrearty and Brooks 2000:491-2 for a list). Rather than attributing the emergence of modern behaviour to purported cognitive changes that are strangely decoupled from the emergence of biological modernity, the regionally-variable and often delayed appearance of its various components may be understood as adaptations to changing environmental conditions (d'errico 2003:199). Moreover, both the African origins - which predate the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and, in some instances, predate the last glacial cycle - and the Eurasian intensification of the trends during the LGM are accommodated, as is the absence or very late appearance of some archaeological signatures in other parts of the world, notably in the Australian region (e.g. Brumm and Moore 2005). Pleistocene clothing Despite the archaeological invisibility of Pleistocene clothing, we can make clothing visible by employing a number of indirect approaches, such as use wear analyses (e.g. Hayden 1990; Soffer 2004). Another strategy, based on the thermal origins of Pleistocene clothing, is to combine what is known about human thermal physiological requirements and past thermal environments. Using this approach, we can draw reasonable inferences as to whether humans would have needed to wear clothes, and whether they needed simple (draped, single-layer) or complex (fitted, multiple-layer) clothing. We can then look for archaeological signatures that might be expected if clothing was manufactured, and assess the extent to which these correspond to the signs of modern human behaviour. Clothing and modern human behaviour Here I only outline how such comparisons may allow us to usefully reinterpret some of the major developments and transitions in human prehistory during the Pleistocene epoch. A thermal approach suggests we need to look beyond The clue is clothing Components of modern human behaviour that can be linked to thermal adaptations include not only technologies (particularly the increasing utilisation of blade-based lithics and bone implements in the manufacture of complex garment assemblages) but also some of the less tangible aspects (Table 2). The latter are now viewed as the more archaeologically consistent indicators of behavioural modernity, whereas lithic technologies (and blade-based forms in particular) are considered rather unreliable markers (e.g. Hiscock 1996; Bar-Yosef and Kuhn 1999; Bar-Yosef 2002). Among these other aspects are greater control of fire (e.g. more structured hearths), specialised hunting (for hides as well as food), more sophisticated artificial shelters, greater residential sedentism (and greater structuring of domestic space), increased use of pigment (connected with hide preparation as well as decoration), and - especially relevant with complex clothing - the various archaeological signs of personal adornment and symbolism (e.g. Van Peer et al 2003; Mellars 2005). At a more speculative level, some of the further ramifications of the regular covering of the skin surface by complex clothing can include effects on human perceptual capacities and cognitive styles, as well as 104

5 Strength Strong Moderate Tenuous Archaeological signature of behavioural modernity Range extension to previously unoccupied environments (cold) New lithic technologies (blades) Tools in novel materials (bone) Greater control of fire (e.g. stone-lined hearths) Site reoccupation and modification (greater use of sheltered sites) Specialised hunting (for meat and hides/furs) Personal adornment (beads and ornaments) Increased use of pigment Grindstones (ochre-grinding) Parietal art (and other external images and representations) Increased artefact diversity and standardization (functional variation) Geographic/temporal variation in formal tool categories Hafting and composite tools/projectiles Intensification of resourcextraction (vegetable - fibres) Structured use of domestic space (functional/social differentiation) Mining (for pigments) Notched and incised objects Long-distance procurement and exchange of raw materials In-depth planning Increased artefact diversity and standardization (stylistic variation) Curation of exotic raw materials New lithic technologies (microblades/geometric microliths) Speculative Burials (with or without grave goods) Group and individual self-identification through artefact style Scheduling and seasonality in resource exploitation None Range extension (desert, rainforest) Intensification of resourcextraction (aquatic, vegetable - comestible) Grindstones (plant processing) Table 2. Archaeological signatures of behavioural modernity grouped according to the strength of their suggested association with complex clothing (and its repercussions) and with related thermally-adaptive developments. on interpersonal communications and relationships (with possible implications for the development of language and social complexity respectively), all of which may, to varying degrees, underlie or accentuate the less tangible features of modern human behaviour. These aspects are explored elsewhere (Gilligan in prep.). However one example - a hypotheticalink between clothing and archaeological evidence for adornment and artistic expression - can be mentioned briefly here. Adornment and Art The surviving material evidence for personal adornment and symbolic behaviour during the late Pleistocene can reflect an increasing use of complex clothes rather than any increased capacity for such behaviour. One pragmatic repercussion of complex clothing of considerable psychosocial import is that the routine and more complete covering of the skin surface with fitted garments means that decorative and symbolic modification of the human body is displaced elsewhere, onto garments and even possibly into greater symbolic modification of the physical environment. Adornment of the unclad body typically leaves little trace in the archaeological record, but once these decorative and symbolic functions are transferred onto clothing and onto other media external to the body, they become more visible in the archaeological record. For instance, the use of beads evidently sewn onto garments is illustrated the Russian site of Sungir dating between 26 and 19 ka (Bader and Bader 2000:29; Kuzmin et al 2004). The early occurrence of similar beads in Africa dating to c. 72 ka and perhaps ka is cited as key evidence for behavioural modernity and symbolic thinking in the African MSA (Middle Stone Age), prior to the European upper palaeolithic (Henshilwood et al 2004; Jacobs et al 2006; Vanhaeren et al 2006). This same principle may apply generally to the evidence for enhanced artistic expression among fully modern humans in the late Pleistocene. Rather than reflecting any heightened mental capacity for such behaviour, an increased frequency of parietal art for instance can instead reflects a shift from artificial modification of the exposed skin surface onto alternative surfaces such as cave walls - witnessed briefly in Tasmania (e.g. Cosgrove and Jones 1989) - and also into other material forms (such as figurines), once access to the skin is restricted by its routine concealment with clothes. Anatomical and Behavioural Modernity The capacity for behavioural modernity is evidently connected closely, if not inextricably, with anatomical modernity. Yet there need be no nebulous, mysteriously delayed emergence of these capacities due to cognitive reorganisation within the human brain or development of language abilities. The alternative is that the advent of modern capacities coincided with the emergence of anatomical modernity (and some modern capacities may 105

6 well predate it). What is visible in the archaeological record may be little more than the greater archaeological visibility of these capacities, in which case it is suggested here that this could be largely consequent and contingent upon the adoption of complex clothing and its repercussions. The decoupling threshold We can look now at the global pattern of climate change during the last glacial cycle in relation to the thermal threshold at which complex clothing became important for human survival. Figure 1 shows a generalised temperature curve for the northern hemisphere covering the last 100,000 years. While the thermal threshold for the acquisition of complex clothing will generally approximate 2-3 clo, in reality it will reflect wind chill conditions more than the air temperature estimates based on proxies such as oxygen isotope records. Wind chill proxies, however, are not straightforward, but assessing past thermal conditions based on estimates of likely wind chill levels gives a more realistic indication of their potential significance for prehistoric humans - and can result in a rather different picture than that derived solely from temperature proxies (Gilligan in press b). Nevertheless, looking simply at the mid-latitude temperature curve since 100 ka, it can be appreciated that there is not only the period of maximum and most sustained cold around the time of the LGM but at least one earlier period of sustained cold around 72 ka and also significant (though less sustained) levels of cold after 50 ka. In all these periods, isotope stages 4 and 2 and late in stage 3, complex clothing was needed by at least some human populations. Superimposed on the graph is a line representing technological innovations and other developments that can be related to complex clothing. Also superimposed is a hypothetical 'threshold' at which the repercussions associated with complex clothing become decoupled from temperatures and ultimately from clothing itself. Tasmania: a case study Australia represents an important, though often over-looked, region in which to evaluate general models for the emergence of modern human behaviour. Given the thermal basis of the model advocated here, it is in the most southerly parts of Sahul - specifically, the Tasmanian region - where we should look for possible archaeological signatures of behavioural modernity in the late Pleistocene. In late Pleistocene Tasmania, wind chill estimates point Figure 1. Schematic graph showing a generalised temperature curve, thermal thresholds and clothing-related developments spanning the last 100,000 years. 106

7 to the need for clothing, based on palaeoenvironmental reconstructions that are detailed elsewhere (Gilligan 2007). However, in contrasto many mid-latitude regions in the northern hemisphere, thermal conditions were such that only 'simple' clothing was required. In terms of the available faunal resources to supply raw materials for clothing, marsupials would have been an obvious choice. Technologically, the main requirement for simple clothing is some form of scraping implement. However, in the case of Tasmania, we also find piercing implements, which are generally associated more with the manufacture of complex clothes, so the presence of these tool forms in late Pleistocene Tasmania is unexpected. Raw materials Faunal data from late Pleistocene Tasmania have yielded evidence for the 'targeting' of a single animal species, the red-necked (or Bennett's) wallaby (Jones 1990:283), the fur of which 'would have provided excellenthermal insulation' (Cosgrove 1997:54). Overall, about 70% of the faunal remains are those of Bennett's wallaby and 5% are wombat, while the remainder of the faunal assemblage (with the exception of platypus) was probably accumulated largely if not exclusively by non-human species such as owls and marsupial carnivores. There is evidence that the frequency distributions of animal body parts at archaeo-logical sites reflect separation of the skins to make cloaks (Cosgrove 1999:231; Cosgrove and Allen 2001:413-8). The paucity of tail bones suggests that the tails were removed whole with fur attached, or left attached to the rest of the skin (Cosgrove 2004:60). Similar separation of distal bone elements in skeletal remains of fur-bearing species such as wolves and arctic foxes is documented in ice age Europe (e.g. Klein 1999:535-6). Thumbnail scrapers Distinctive small stone tools make their appearance as temperatures declined, leading into the LGM around 28 ka. The earliest published dates are from Pallawa Trounta, between 30 and 27 ka (Cosgrove 1999:375). These small retouched flake implements may have served in the production of animal skin garments. Thumbnail scrapers disappear from the southwest by the end of the Pleistocene, although they persist into the Holocene elsewhere on the island (Freslov 1993: ; Moore 2000:71). Such tools may be expected to find many uses from the outset, and even to change their predominant functions over time; wood-working in particular might have become more prominent from the early Holocene as forestspread over the island. It is the timing and location of their initial appearance that is most relevant in this context, and this is consistent with the development and elaboration of clothing production during the late Pleistocene. Use wear analysis was performed by Fullagar (1986) on twenty tools from Kutikina, the majority being 'thumbnail' scrapers. Multiple functions were identified, sometimes on a single tool, including hide preparation in approximately half the cases (Fullagar 1986: ). The number of tools examined was small, and it can be noted that Kutikina was occupied between around 20 and 15 ka, well after the earliest cave sites in the region. Nonetheless, it indicates that hide- working was among the functions of these tools during the late Pleistocene. Bone points Bone tools make an early appearance in the archaeological record of late Pleistocene Tasmania, dated to between 32 and 27 ka at Warreen Cave (Cosgrove 1999:382)), although they are absent from some sites (e.g. ORS7 and Nunamira). Many are clearly shaped into needles, and the polished ends of such tools in Tasmania point to a likely function in the manufacture of animal-skin garments (Cosgrove 1993:167; Cosgrove 2004:60). It seems generally accepted that humans would have needed more thermal protection in the late Pleistocene than that afforded by the scant garments observed ethnographically among the Tasmanian Aborigines (Cosgrove 1997:54). A use wear analysis of nineteen bone points, nine of which were classed as 'fine points', from two of the cave sites (Bone Cave and M86/2), showed evidence for the piercing of dry skin, as well as some evidence for their use as spearpoints (Webb and Allen 1990:77-78). One intriguing aspect in Tasmania is the disappearance of bone tools from the archaeological record during the Holocene. As Jones (1990:283-4) pointed out, the most likely reason is that warmer conditions after 10 ka led to a reduction in the use of garments. In the absence of any other important function for these tools, their manufacture was gradually abandoned. Given the finding of a single bone point dating to no more than 3 ka at Louisa Bay on the southern coast (Vanderwal 1978:110-2), the disappearance of bone tools can be dated to somewhat more recenthan the mid-holocene. In summary, the archaeological record of late Pleistocene Tasmania provides evidence for behavioural adaptations to the colder conditions, including various archaeological signatures of clothing. As such, it demonstrates how prehistoric clothing may be rendered more 'visible' archaeologically despite the garments themselves having perished. The evidence is consistent with the development of simple rather than complex garments. The recovery of bone points from many of the sites suggests that these draped (rather than fitted) garments were more substantial than those observed ethnographically among Tasmanian Aborigines during the late Holocene. The use of fitted garments during the LGM cannot be excluded, though the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction indicates that the development of complex clothing was not necessary for thermal reasons. Furthermore, some of the likely archaeological signatures of such clothing - dedicated cutting implements such as blade tools to cut hides into particular shapes prior to joining, and eyed needles to 107

8 ti simple clothing and relate developments remain coupled to thermal conditions I / φ iijiiijijiiliiliiijii^ Í!Íii!Éij!jíÍiÍiÍ!ÍÍ!ÉÍ^ - - -* ^«^ complex clothing not required by humans in Tasmania during the LGM, * »... **'... ; ^ Ü2 '"... ; / simple g *»«v.. ι -. _-..._w._. C 2 *.,... **"* complex f φ ε « » 35 time (ka) 0 i Figure 2. Schematic graph showing thermal thresholds and clothing-related developments in Tasmania spanning the last 35,000 years. facilitate finer sewing in the manufacture of undergarments Griffiths 1976:80-1), with the added proviso that protection - are conspicuously absent in Tasmania. from wind penetration would be a crucial issue. These considerations translate into a need for complex clothes, which have certain technological and archaeological Global comparisons correlates such as dedicated hide-cutting and piercing implements, e.g. blades and points. It has been acknow- These late Pleistocene developments in Tasmania invite ledged tha the coincidence of blade tools in industries with comparison with corresponding archaeological records in numerous bone awls may suggest some connection with the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere (Kiernan et al manufacture of clothing (Sherratt 1997:283). LGM 1983; Jones 1990:290). Palaeoenvironmental data can be conditions in Tasmania are not commensurate with the used to evaluate trendsuch as site utilisation and aspect, northern hemisphere isotope stage 2, but rather with earlier, faunal targeting, clothing-related technological develop- less severe periods when mean temperatures fell by between ments, and geographical limits to human occupation of cold 5 C and 10 C, such as isotope stage 5b, around 90 ka, and environments. Thermal conditions in Tasmania, however, stage 4 around ka (cf. Jones 1982:213; Kiernan et al were less severe than in mid-latitude Eurasia, where mean 1983:31). It is to these earlier periods that Tasmania can be LGM temperatures declined by around 12 C, and in some compared in terms of the thermal conditions to which areas possibly by as much as 15 C below present. Sub-zero prehistoric humans were exposed, and in terms of the mean annual temperatures, and winter means well below technological correlates of clothing that may be anticipated -5 C, signify that a further physiological threshold was in the archaeological record. crossed at middle latitudes in the northern hemisphere. This From a thermal perspective, technological comparisons has implications for minimum clothing requirements, for Tasmania should be made not with the European upper particularly the need for improved wind chill protection palaeolithic but with the middle palaeolithic, with its given the lower air temperatures. Such conditions required emphasis on the efficient production and refinement of substantially more than 2 clo units and correspond to stone scraper tools. This is indeed what is seen for lithic present-day 3-4 layer 'clothing zones' (Siple 1949:408-20; technology in Tasmania during the late Pleistocene, as 108

9 expected on thermal grounds alone. With respect to bone tools, the need for bone points or awls in the manufacture of garments arose in Tasmania not because they had to be fitted, but because the smaller hides available in the form of wallaby skins (along with the furry skins other small animal species such as wombats, platypus and potoroo) needed to be joined together to make adequately-sizedraped cloaks. Whether larger species such as Diprotodon, Macropus titan or Sthenurus occidentalis were also available during the early period of human occupation is unclear (Murray 1978:127-8), but the absence of such faunal remains in Tasmanian archaeological contexts suggests their local extinction prior to the arrival of humans in the region (Cosgrove and Allen 2001:424-5). In Tasmania, in order to cover most of the body, a number of small hides would need to be joined together, hence a requirement for hide-piercing tools. This contrasts with Eurasia, where a single hide from a large mammal such as a reindeer or horse sufficed. In the northern hemisphere, the presence of awls and needles (particularly eyed needles) corresponds more to conditions in which fitted garments and multiple layers were required, notably during the LGM. The archaeological record of the Tasmanian Aborigines indeed presents an ideal opportunity for making large-scale intercontinental comparisons: What is much clearer now is that we have an independent test situation with [which] to investigate the dichotomy between environmental and behavioural explanations raised by the European data... While we do not have an equivalent of the Middle Palaeolithic for comparison, in the Tasmanian case any specialisations or efficiencies which might be apparent in the data cannot be related to the appearance of a morelaborate blade tool technology, as is done in Europe, because it is absenthroughout the Tasmanian prehistoric sequence... (Cosgrove and Allen 2001:399) Tasmania: what happened? In Figure 2, the timescale begins at 35 ka, when the first signs of a human presence in Tasmania are documented (Cosgrove 1999). Thermal conditions in the late Pleistocene required at least the 1-2 clo of insulation that is provided by simple clothing, but wind chill estimates do not reach the level at which complex clothing would have become necessary for survival. This means two things. First, in contrasto late Pleistocene mid-latitude Eurasia, complex clothing did not develop, hence clothing-related developments did not cross the decoupling threshold. Second, and in contrast to regions where complex clothing continued in use for non-thermal reasons, Tasmanians after the ice age were free to dispense with clothing, along with any associated technologies for which they had presumably found no other useful or compelling purposes. This Tasmanian pattern of sub-threshold insular developments during the late Pleistocene, and the effective abandonment of clothing in the Holocene, stands in contrast to the major trendseen in many other parts of the world. However, it is probably far from unique, and may corres- pond broadly to similar developments that occurred earlier in the Pleistocene. This includes the Middle Pleistocene, where elements of Mode 3 and even Mode 4 technocomplexes appear sporadically during earlier glacial cycles. The seemingly unusual situation in Tasmania, in other words, is largely illusory, and arises only because of the unprecedented developments in some other regions, where complex clothing was developed for the firstime. Acknowledgements This paper derives in part from work undertaken for a Masters degree in the Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology at the University of Sydney, supervised by Peter White. The work has benefited greatly from his encouragement and critical involvement. It also reflects advice and assistance given by other individuals, of whom I particularly wish to thank David Bulbeck, Eric Colhoun, Richard Cosgrove, Richard Fullagar, Bob Steadman and the two anonymous referees. Responsibility, and liability, rests solely with the author. References Bader, O.N. and N.O. Bader Upper palaeolithic site Sunghir. In T.I. Alexeeva and N.O. Bader (eds) Homo Sungirensis. Upper Palaeolithic Man: Ecological and Evolutionary Aspects of the Investigation. Moscow: Scientific World, pp Bar-Yosef, O The upper paleolithic revolution. Annual Review of Anthropology 31: Bar-Yosef, O. and S.L. Kuhn The big deal about blades: laminar technologies and human evolution. American Anthropologist 101: Bodley, A.S Changing cold acclimatisation patterns of men living in Antarctica. International Journal of Biometeorology 22: Brantingham, P.J., S.L. Kuhn, and K.W. 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