PESSAC, FRANCE—The International Business Times reports that Aurélie Zemour of Bordeaux Montaigne University and her colleagues examined traces of the 7,000-year-old clothing of a man whose burial was unearthed in southern France in the 1970s. Both ends of the skeletal remains had been damaged by disturbance in the modern and medieval eras. “But the materials worn by the dead here are obvious and ornaments are visible,” Zemour said. “The burial is exceptional.” The cloth of the man’s jacket or tunic did not survive, but the researchers were able to see that it had been embroidered with 158 Columbella rustica shells. The shells had been arranged in patterns, with the conical shells either pointed all up, pointed all down, or up and down in alternating pairs. Sixteen canine teeth from red deer had also been sewn to the garment at chest level. Chemical analysis of the teeth indicates they may have been painted red. For more, go to “World’s Oldest Pants.”
