Clothes From 8,000 Years Ago Were Made From Trees, New Research Suggests

[EvilEyeFleegle]

A Neolithic city..of about 8,000~

MSN

www.msn.com

Cloth fragments found at Çatalhöyük were made from the bast fibers of oak trees, according to research published in the journal Antiquity. The authors of the new paper analyzed some of the oldest known woven fabrics in the world, in a finding that speaks to an unappreciated material used during the Stone Age.
The paper subsequently settles a longstanding debate about whether linen or wool was used to make the Çatalhöyük fabrics, as the research found them to be made from neither material. Lise Bender Jørgensen from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology is the first author of the study.
Çatalhöyük (pronounced cha-tal-ho-yook) is one of my favorite archaeological sites in the world. Appearing some 9,000 years ago in what is now Turkey, it’s among the world’s most ancient settlements. At its peak, the Stone Age city hosted somewhere between 3,500 and 8,000 people, and its timing at the early Neolithic (the last ice age had just barely ended) blurs the boundary between hunter-gatherer culture and the emergence of farming communities. What’s more, Çatalhöyük, despite its ancientness (if that’s a word), experienced many modern problems, such as overcrowding, sanitation issues, and interpersonal violence.

 

[westwall]

A Neolithic city..of about 8,000~

MSN

www.msn.com

Cloth fragments found at Çatalhöyük were made from the bast fibers of oak trees, according to research published in the journal Antiquity. The authors of the new paper analyzed some of the oldest known woven fabrics in the world, in a finding that speaks to an unappreciated material used during the Stone Age.
The paper subsequently settles a longstanding debate about whether linen or wool was used to make the Çatalhöyük fabrics, as the research found them to be made from neither material. Lise Bender Jørgensen from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology is the first author of the study.
Çatalhöyük (pronounced cha-tal-ho-yook) is one of my favorite archaeological sites in the world. Appearing some 9,000 years ago in what is now Turkey, it’s among the world’s most ancient settlements. At its peak, the Stone Age city hosted somewhere between 3,500 and 8,000 people, and its timing at the early Neolithic (the last ice age had just barely ended) blurs the boundary between hunter-gatherer culture and the emergence of farming communities. What’s more, Çatalhöyük, despite its ancientness (if that’s a word), experienced many modern problems, such as overcrowding, sanitation issues, and interpersonal violence.

I don't know why this is supposedly ground breaking.

Prehistoric Textiles​

Textiles require long, pliable string-like elements. The earliest current evidence for human awareness and manufacture of string comes (as impressions on clay) from Pavlov, a Palaeolithic site of about 25,000 B.C.E. in the Czech Republic.

String: the Earliest Textile​

Thin, breakable filaments of plant-bast fiber were twisted into longer, stronger threads yarns that were then twined as weft (crosswise yarns) around the warp (lengthwise yarns) and around each other to make net-like fabrics. These fabrics are sophisticated enough that this cannot be the very beginning of either thread-, yarn-, or net-making. Other slightly later finds, plus the fact that all human cultures know the art of making string, confirm that this technology began in the Palaeolithic and spread everywhere with the human race. Indeed, string-making probably made it possible for humans to spread into difficult eco-niches, since it improves hunting/fishing capabilities and enables food-packaging.
Interestingly, a few of the so-called Venus figures (hand-sized carvings of women, usually plump, dating to about 20,000 B.C.E. and found from France to Russia) wear garments clearly fashioned of string: string skirts, bandeaux, or netted caps. These garments seem to signal information about marital status.

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[JGalt]

Paper clothes? Hope they didn't smoke back then. That could have led to an embarrassing accident.

 

[sparky]

~S~

 

[EvilEyeFleegle]

I don't know why this is supposedly ground breaking.

Prehistoric Textiles​

Textiles require long, pliable string-like elements. The earliest current evidence for human awareness and manufacture of string comes (as impressions on clay) from Pavlov, a Palaeolithic site of about 25,000 B.C.E. in the Czech Republic.

String: the Earliest Textile​

Thin, breakable filaments of plant-bast fiber were twisted into longer, stronger threads yarns that were then twined as weft (crosswise yarns) around the warp (lengthwise yarns) and around each other to make net-like fabrics. These fabrics are sophisticated enough that this cannot be the very beginning of either thread-, yarn-, or net-making. Other slightly later finds, plus the fact that all human cultures know the art of making string, confirm that this technology began in the Palaeolithic and spread everywhere with the human race. Indeed, string-making probably made it possible for humans to spread into difficult eco-niches, since it improves hunting/fishing capabilities and enables food-packaging.
Interestingly, a few of the so-called Venus figures (hand-sized carvings of women, usually plump, dating to about 20,000 B.C.E. and found from France to Russia) wear garments clearly fashioned of string: string skirts, bandeaux, or netted caps. These garments seem to signal information about marital status.

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Let us help you live a life you love. Find tools to help you have fun and make the most out of each and every day.

fashion-history.lovetoknow.com

It settled a long-standing debate---flax vs wool. Turns out both sides were wrong~

Food for thought.....

 

[westwall]

It settled a long-standing debate---flax vs wool. Turns out both sides were wrong~

Food for thought.....

The use of flax for clothes has been known for centuries.

 

[EvilEyeFleegle]

The use of flax for clothes has been known for centuries.

OK. However, in this case it was Oak~

 

[westwall]

OK. However, in this case it was Oak~

Ancient man was pretty clever. Modern man assumes that ancient man was a moron. That is a mistake.

 

[Mushroom]

It settled a long-standing debate---flax vs wool. Turns out both sides were wrong~

Food for thought.....

Not really.

Most likely, the first clothes were simply animal skins. It does not take much to skin an animal then cut a head hole to make a poncho. And sinew could also be used as thread.

But just because some evidence is found now, that does not mean that more will not be found at a later date that predates the latest finds.

 

[Mushroom]

Ancient man was pretty clever. Modern man assumes that ancient man was a moron. That is a mistake.

Ancient man was just as intelligent as we are today.

They simply had less of a historical depth to base their technology on. That developed over tens of thousands of years. Each generation building on what was known before.

Hell, we can see this simply by looking at some of the Indians who decided to leave their tribes and settle with the Europeans. Literally almost overnight jumping from a Neolithic culture to a modern one. Then taking up trades like smithing, writing, even sailing with no effort.

Or even Sequoyah. Born into the Cherokee tribe, he was illiterate until they migrated to Alabama. Where he started to learn, became literate, then created a syllabus and dictionary, and putting the entirely oral Cherokee language into writing. Things like that show they were not "stupid", it was simply something that culturally they had never been exposed to before. But once grasped, they had no problem understanding it and knowing how to use it themselves.

 

[westwall]

Ancient man was just as intelligent as we are today.

They simply had less of a historical depth to base their technology on. That developed over tens of thousands of years. Each generation building on what was known before.

Hell, we can see this simply by looking at some of the Indians who decided to leave their tribes and settle with the Europeans. Literally almost overnight jumping from a Neolithic culture to a modern one. Then taking up trades like smithing, writing, even sailing with no effort.

Or even Sequoyah. Born into the Cherokee tribe, he was illiterate until they migrated to Alabama. Where he started to learn, became literate, then created a syllabus and dictionary, and putting the entirely oral Cherokee language into writing. Things like that show they were not "stupid", it was simply something that culturally they had never been exposed to before. But once grasped, they had no problem understanding it and knowing how to use it themselves.

No, he wasn't as intelligent in an IQ sense, but he was very clever, and extremely adaptable. He could make ANYTHING a tool. Throughout mans history his base IQ has been increasing. We see that in the present day. Base IQ has risen more than 10 points in the last 100 years thanks to better nutrition.

 

[airplanemechanic]

Paper clothes? Hope they didn't smoke back then. That could have led to an embarrassing accident.

No worse than cotton ones.

 

[whitehall]

Tree fiber lasts longer than animal fiber and remnants of tree fiber are found in ancient human remains. Therefore plant fiber must have been the primary source for clothing among the pre-ancients. Another smart conclusion from the folks that gave us MM global warming.