Tools & manufacturing · c. 172,000 years ago

Clothing

Hides worn on the body let humans live in colder lands.

Genetic dating of clothing lice suggests clothing use at least 83,000 years ago and possibly as early as 170,000 years ago. Wearing hides helped humans live in colder climates. Later sewing technology made fitted garments possible.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia Source

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 2

Control of fire 1M years ago
Acheulean hand axe 1.8M years ago

What it led to 1

Eyed needle 50k BCE

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

World population over a million years Latest: 6.27k million people (2000) Source: DeLong 1998, table 'Total World Population' (Kremer series); Kremer 1993, Population Growth and Technological Change: One Million B.C. to 1990, QJE 108(3)