The needle has played a major part in the development of our civilization and our standard of living. The most ancient sewing needles, which date back to 28,000 BC, did not have an eye but a split end which gripped the thread to be sewn (often raffia, gut or sinew).

When were sewing needles first used?

The needle is the distinctive tool of the Upper Paleolithic period that began about 40,000 years ago. The oldest known needles with eyes date from the Gravettian period, about 25,000 years ago.

Who invented the first sewing needle?

8,600-year-old Neolithic needle bones were discovered at Ekşi Höyük, western Anatolia, in present-day Denizli Province. Flinders Petrie found copper sewing needles at Naqada, Egypt, ranging from 4400 BC to 3000 BC.