Alice Roberts: How we know what ancient humans wore 👕🪡 Clothing is perishable and the oldest remains are only around 10,000 years old. But, as archaeologist Alice Roberts explains, we can follow trends back in time in other ways. Archaeological clues can reveal the origins of both simple capes and complex tailoring to be remarkably ancient. Most surprising, though, is research into the technology most strongly associated with clothing, needles. This is now revealing how our ancestors transform