9,000-Year-Old Stone Needles Identified in Tibet

News July 2, 2024

Serpentine needle, Tibet
Yun Chen/Sichuan University
SHARE:

CHENGDU, CHINA—Science Magazine reports that six artifacts discovered in 2020 near the shore of Lake Xiada Co in western Tibet have been identified as stone sewing needles by Yun Chen of Sichuan University and her colleagues. The objects, thought to be about 9,000 years old based upon the radiocarbon dating of charcoal fragments and animal bones found with them, are pointed at one end and have a hole in the other. Two of them are intact, and the eyes, or holes, were preserved in four of the needles, which were made of tremolite, serpentine, actinolite, and talc. Examination with ultra-deep-field microscopy and 3-D modeling has shown that Needle 1, which is the longest, widest, and thickest of the objects, has marks characteristic of scraping along its length on all sides. It was then probably ground to produce the tip, and then sharpened with oblique scraping marks. Similar patterns were found on the other artifacts. It took Chen and her colleagues about seven times longer to replicate the stone needles than the process takes when making needles from bone. Ancient Tibetans, Chen reasoned, may have been sewing thicker materials, perhaps to make something like a tent. The researchers also note that traces of red ocher were identified on Needle 6. Critics of the study think the objects may have been used as ornaments, citing the presence of the ocher and the use of soft talc, or to weave fishing nets. To read about recent research on yak domestication, go to "Around the World: Tibet."

  • Features July/August 2024

    The Assyrian Renaissance

    Archaeologists return to Nineveh in northern Iraq, one of the ancient world’s grandest imperial capitals

    Read Article
    (Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project)
  • Letter from Nigeria July/August 2024

    A West African Kingdom's Roots

    Excavations in Benin City reveal a renowned realm’s deep history

    Read Article
    (Mike Pitts)
  • Artifacts July/August 2024

    Etruscan Oil Lamp

    Read Article
    Etruscan Hanging Oil Lamp
    (Courtesy Museo dell’Accademia Etrusca e della Città di Cortona; © DeA Picture Library/Art Resource, NY)
  • Digs & Discoveries July/August 2024

    Bronze Age Beads Go Abroad

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Cambridge Archaeological Unit)