Physically, clothing serves many purposes: it can serve as protection from the elements, and can enhance safety during hazardous activities such as hiking and cooking. It protects the wearer from rough surfaces, rash-causing plants, insect bites, splinters, thorns and prickles by providing a barrier between the skin and the environment. Clothes can insulate against cold or hot conditions. Further, they can provide a hygienic barrier, keeping infectious and toxic materials away from the body. Clothing also provides protection from harmful UV radiation.

There is no easy way to determine when clothing was first developed, but some information has been inferred by studying lice. The body louse specifically lives in clothing, and diverge from head lice about 107,000 years ago, suggesting that clothing existed at that time. Another theory is that modern humans are the only survivors of several species of primates who may have worn clothes and that clothing may have been used as long ago as 650 thousand years ago. Other louse-based estimates put the introduction of clothing at around 42,00072,000 BP.

Answer this series of questions:

1. what does clothing do?
2. from what?
3. what does it protect from?
4. what else?
5. how does it protect from those things?
6. do other mammals today wear them?
7. how long have people had clothes?
8. how do we know that?
9. how do we know they've been around for many years?
10. can wearing it us safe from the sun?
1. serve many purposes
2. it can serve as protection and enhance safety
3. the elements
4. rough surfaces, rash-causing plants, insect bites, splinters, thorns and prickles by \
5. by providing a barrier between the skin and the environment
6. no
7. as long ago as 650 thousand years ago
8. unknown
9. The body louse specifically lives in clothing, and diverge from head lice about 107,000 years ago, suggesting that clothing existed at that time.
10. yes