Enlarge image

Perforated ivory rod

Photo: H. Jensen / University of Tübingen

The finds are unique in the world and were probably used by people to make ropes 35,000 years ago. Experts have examined two perforated rods made of mammoth ivory discovered in the Swabian Alb in more detail. Archaeologist Nicholas Conard from the University of Tübingen and Veerle Rots from the University of Liège present the result after experiments in the journal “Science Advances”.

Paleontologists working with Conard discovered fragments of one of the rods in 2015 in the Hohler Fels karst cave in the Achtal in the Alb-Donau district in Baden-Württemberg. The material itself is unusual, as such objects were almost always made from the antlers of reindeer and deer. It is also noticeable that the hole rod contains four holes - at other sites in Europe there are usually one or a maximum of two holes.

A very similar object from the same era has only been found once, in 1983 in the Geißenklösterle cave, just two kilometers away.

The hollow rock hole rod, which has now been presented in detail, is a good 20 centimeters long, more than three centimeters wide and 1.5 centimeters thick. The four holes with a diameter of seven to nine millimeters are notched in a spiral shape.

From this, Conard and Rots draw conclusions about the previously enigmatic function of the two special perforated rods. Until now, experts considered them to be symbols of power or art objects; they were only considered to have practical value as levers - similar to the bottle opener principle.

Practical value as a tool

After experiments, Conard and Rots report that the four-hole objects are well suited to making ropes, especially from cattail leaves (Typha), a group of plants that probably already grew in the Achtal at that time. In experiments, four to five people made a rope up to five meters long and about the thickness of a finger out of cattail leaves within ten minutes. To do this, the already twisted leaves are pulled through the holes and the resulting strand is twisted again.

"That doesn't disprove the fact that perforated rods could have a symbolic meaning," said Conard. "But it shows that they also had practical value as tools." Anyone who camps, hunts or gathers today knows that ropes and cords are useful for countless practical purposes, write Conard and Rots. »Without rope, cord or strips of leather, life in the Stone Age would have been difficult.«

fzs/dpa