GoKawiilResearchers Recreate Ice Age Rope-Making Using 35,000-Year-Old Ivory Tool
A team led by Tübingen archaeologist Nicholas Conard tested a perforated mammoth-ivory artifact found at Germany's Hohle Fels cave, discovering that its spiral-grooved holes could guide cattail fibers into twisted strands. Using the tool, researchers produced 16 feet of strong rope in about ten minutes, suggesting the object functioned as a fiber-working tool rather than a symbolic item as first assumed.