DRESSCODES 23

What we today know as fashion—the practice of creating meaning with what we wear—has a special place in the history of humankind. In the archaeological record, bodily adornment is understood to be the earliest example of symbolic behavior, and thus evidence of a capacity that is uniquely human. As Jane Goodall discovered in her research in Tanzania, we are not the only species to create tools in the wild. We are, however, the only species to create artifacts that we wear on the body to communicate to others. In this presentation I will detail the earliest examples of bodily adornment that exist in the archaeological record—ochre and shell beads—which are found going back at least 100,000 years. I will also present different types of bodies themselves as shown in the archaeological record—bones and figurative sculptures—and their relation to gender assumptions and idealized body types. I will then discuss the ways that these bodies and early items of “fashion” have been interpreted by archaeologists, illustrating the philosophical implications of the theories of interpretation that are utilized in these contexts. Considering the deep past of our adorning practices can shed light on how and why we adorn, our modern assumptions about these practices, and what philosophical frameworks are best equipped to explain our understanding of bodies and bodily adornment.