We're accustomed to thinking that tool use is what distinguishes us from our non-human cousins, but is that really true? We see other species using "tools" and crude technologies so I don't think it is the defining factor. Perhaps it's actually the use of clothing that is the greatest difference. I'd like to know if anyone has done research in what I will call sartoriology.
can you try to define more precisely what you call "sartoriology"?
Sartorial has to do with clothing. Sartoriology is the study of clothing, specifically anthropological sarteriology.
A few years ago, I wrote a chapter entitled "Clothing in Prehistory: from bare skin to status symbol" (in Spanish). You can read it at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gabriel-Martinez-Fernandez/research
James A. Kushlan wrote: The Vestiary Hypothesis of Human Hair Reduction, Journal of Human Evolution, 14 (1985), 29-32
There are quite a few publications on the topic you are interested in.
For some reason it reminded me of Paul Fussel's book 'Uniform: Why We Are What We Wear'. Maybe it's in light of the idea of being properly dressed for war from an aesthetic point of view.
In my biblical worldview, I note that Genesis 3:21 states that God made clothing of skins for the first two people, Adam and Eve. Earlier, in Genesis 3:7, feeling guilty, and aware that they were naked, Adam and Eve had sewed themselves aprons of fig leaves. I would take the view that people (human beings) wore clothes, while animals did not, right from the beginning, and there was a sharp distinction between people and animals. Our problem today, of course, is that clothing deteriorates completely on the prehistoric skeletons, and so do animal skin and fur. This prevents us from using wearing of clothing, or not, as distinguishing people from animals in their study. Thank you for raising a very interesting question.
I think that clothing definitely sets us apart from other species, however humans use TOOLS to make the clothing, for example in the Andeas mountain region of South America, textile primacy is part of their culture. they developed the backstrap loom to create amazing textiles. Even cultures who use hides as clothing used tools to stitch the hide together. And each culture around the world has created their own techniques and style for their clothing, using different tools. So i would actually argue that AESTHETICS is what set us apart from our fellow species:)
I would suspect that the evolution of clothing was first for practical reason. But once introduced there evolved a symbolic or religious use of clothing to denote those of notable rank. After all, the king does not want to look like everyone else, how are they to know he is in charge?
Humans started to use animal skins as cloth at least a hundred thousand years ago. Yet, the major breakthrough was when Homo Sapiens began to use man-made materials for clothing. That happened in approximately 34000 BC. See, for example, "Balter, M. (2009). Clothes Make the (Hu) Man, Science. 325 (5946): 1329. doi:10.1126/science.325_1329a". In my book "Subsurface History of Humanity: Direction of History," I posted the use of "Man-made materials, substances, organisms" as one of 26 great opportunities created by humanity during the last 44 thousand years. And that opportunity started with clothing.
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