Re: Origin of Clothing

From: Lucy (yipyip_at_yipyip.com)
Date: 01/30/05 

Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 00:25:56 -0600

I will bet you are either an Urban Planning Engineer, a City Manager, or

an Investment Banker .... on loan from proeprty management? You do
science
instead of preaching at a church?

Strange Creature wrote:

> The idea that there is a complete transition from
> black to white with no shades in between, is a
> phenomenon intrinsic to American history, if not
> the Sahara desert. Basic selection factors at
> least as far as I have heard, with respect to
> skin color, tend to fall under skin cancer,
> vitamin D production, and possible camoflage
> during hunting or gathering.
>
> The amount of near ultraviolet radiation that
> falls upon the earth, tends to depend relatively
> heavily upon the angle that the sun is in the
> sky. A small level of cloud cover will only
> scatter and diminish it very slightly, however
> a heavy level of cloud cover will often
> reduce it to a greater extent. Also, snow
> glare will tend to reflect ultraviolet
> radiation off the ground and also magnify the
> level of ultraviolet radiation presented by
> the environment. The sun will of course,
> produce little ultraviolet radiation at
> night. I am not sure what level of UV
> output that a campfire will put forth.
>
> If the universe or at least human civilization,
> were not produced only several thousand years
> ago, the following from archaeology and
> paleontology could also probably be inferred.
>
> Man probably left Africa for at least the
> southern part of Eurasia about 1 to 3
> million years ago. There might possibly
> have also been some genetic interaction
> within the species over time in the
> various regions where humans were
> present due to the physical migration
> of the life form throughout time
> from place to place.
>
> Man did not colonize the most northern
> parts of Eurasia, at least for during the
> highth of the ice ages, if not the
> interglacials, until at least the past
> 50,000 or so years, or only slightly
> longer. Lack of extremely ancient evidence
> for man in North and South America might
> at least possibly indicate this.
>
> Man did not go on long ocean voyages
> until the last 50,000 to 70,000 years
> or so. Lack of extremely ancient
> evidence for man in Australia might
> tend to indicate this.
>
> Hairlessness might tend to possibly
> favor darker skin with regard to
> skin cancer. However, lighter
> skin will be able to produce more
> vitamin D to protect against rickets,
> for those early humans who had not
> inferred the immediate idea, of possibly
> eating animal livers in order to
> compensate.
>
> A thick cotton shirt will produce
> about the same level of blockage
> of ultraviolet light as relatively
> dark skin color will. Probably
> some animal skins or furs would
> cut out ultraviolet light
> even more.
>
> This produces the question with
> regard to how long ago humans
> started wearing clothing in northern
> climates to protect against heat
> loss in winter, and possibly
> provide at least a temporary
> immediate short term protection
> against some, less powerful animal
> bites in some areas.
>
> Shoes will help to protect the
> feet of humans against sharp
> objects while running, however
> a heavy skin might also reduce
> the speed of a human while
> running, and decrease protection
> against overheating during
> periods of high exertion, unless
> they are shedded (which if they
> were not highly treated skins,
> might also, still be eaten by
> predators if one does not return
> and recover them fast enough).
> Another fundamental problem with
> wearing at least animal skins, is
> the potential for attracting large
> predators from their smell if
> they are not treated in some
> fashion.
>
> If a human were to wear a large
> amount of thick clothing, this
> would only leave part of the
> body available to to produce
> vitamin D from sunlight, disposing
> the wearer to possibly become more
> susceptible to rickets over time.
>
> The question exists, with regard
> to how long, that might have presented
> an additional selection pressure upon
> humans in northern climates, and what
> effects that might have had
> upon human physiology among its
> different variants. How far
> back did clothing go, within
> the archaeological and
> paleontological record, as
> we now know it?

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