GERMANY: Although taboo for many today, humans have been wearing fur coats for at least 300,000 years. One of the earliest examples of hominins removing animal hides to use them as clothing comes from the site of Schöningen in Lower Saxony. Experts believe that cut marks on metatarsal and phalanx bones from the paws of extinct cave bears found there were not made during the normal butchering process, since there was little meat in the paws. Instead, they were likely made when the pelts were removed to be worn as protection against the harsh winter elements.