Naturism in Prehistory

The Evolution of Man

Prehistory is an interesting era for the conceptualisation of how our ancestors first became naked apes; how the use clothes might have evolved; and to explore whether modern naturist values could have correlates in any aspects of prehistoric life. The earliest archeological evidence for the manufacture of clothing is from a cave in Morocco, dated to between 90,000 to 120,000 years ago. However, it’s likely that our much earlier ancestors - in addition to our genetic cousins the Neanderthals and Denisovans - used clothing for insulation (by inference from the climatic regions where they lived).

Genetic evidence suggests that our ancestor Homo erectus lost its fur between 1.7 million and 3 million years ago, perhaps coinciding with its emergence from shaded forests onto the sun-exposed savannah. When combined with an enhanced ability to sweat, one hypothesis is that the loss of fur enabled more effective thermoregulation whilst hunting large mammals under the African sun. Use of clothing (such as animal furs) and control of fire then allowed our ancestors to keep warm by alternative means and thereby adapt to a wide range of climatic conditions.

Reduced amounts of body hair may also have created new opportunities for interpersonal communication, self-expression, pair-bonding and sexual intimacy: Animal furs could be used to protect from climatic conditions, whilst body decorations and jewellery acquired additional social and cultural purposes. Whether ‘shame’ or ‘modesty’ even existed as concepts for prehistoric humans is unknown.

Modern, organised naturism followed on from the era of Romanticism in European thought and culture, which had promoted ideas of a return to nature, the ‘Natural Law’, the ‘Noble Savage’ and the importance of natural education; thinkers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau (b. 1712—d. 1778) appealed to notions of a prehistoric man living in a state of bliss. Although such idyllic visions of the past are now viewed as somewhat exaggerated, the ability to communicate and identify each other through facial expressions and other visible physical characteristics appears to have been a crucial factor in human evolution¹.

Thus, in their most natural form, our bodies give us the ability to create social bonds and shared understanding, which perhaps gave rise to the key elements of modern naturism as a lifestyle, including the positive aspects of knowing, respecting and accepting our bodies and those of others.

¹Jablonski, Nina G. (1 November 2012). "The Naked Truth". Scientific American.