A team of anthropologists say they’ve uncovered the earliest evidence of string, twisted fibers used by Neanderthals residing in France some 90,000 years ago. From New Scientist (emphasis added):

[Bruce] Hardy and his colleagues have found slender, 0.7-millimetre-long plant fibres that are twisted together near some stone artefacts at a site in south-east France that was occupied by Neanderthals 90,000 years ago. Such fibres are not twisted together in nature, says the team, suggesting that the Neanderthals were responsible (Quaternary Science Reviews, doi.org/pzx).

"If they are indeed remnants of string or cordage, then they would be the earliest direct evidence of string," says Hardy. "Albeit very fragmentary evidence."

At 90,000 years old, the material purported to be string predates the arrival of Homo sapiens in Europe.

Note the sentence in bold. Plant fibers twisted together are evidence of intelligent design, since such a pattern defies explanation by reference to unguided natural processes of chance and necessity. It reflects intention and creativity. But DNA strands twisted together and bearing the encoded genetic information vital to life — oh sure, nature had no difficulty coming up with that one.

The discovery comes on the heels of other research news that finds evidence of Neanderthals in Spain using toothpicks "to mitigate pain caused by oral diseases such as inflammation of the gums (periodontal disease)." The combination of findings caught the attention of this dentist’s son. Perhaps the French string is floss.