Bone-and-hide tent structure
Tienda o cabaña con armazón de huesos y pieles
- Date
- c. 44 ka · confidence medium
- Place
- Molodova I, Dniester Valley, Ukraine
- Credited to
- Neanderthals
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A 7 x 5 m ring of mammoth bones surrounding hearths, interpreted as the base of a hide tent. A transportable dwelling for plains without caves.
Whether the bone accumulation is intentional or the result of river erosion and carnivore activity is debated.
What it led to
- Occupation of open steppe with no natural shelters
- Transportable architecture: the model for the yurt and the tipi
- Collective work of construction and upkeep
Built on
- Structured central hearth and domestic spacec. 300 ka
- Hide clothingc. 120 ka
- Eyed bone needlec. 50 ka
- Structured central hearth and domestic space
- Hide clothing
Made possible
- Mammoth-bone dwellingc. 17 ka
- Mammoth-bone dwelling