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

Gizmodo ^ | George Dvorsky

[BenLurkin]

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.

Archaeologists have explored 18 distinctive layers of sediment since excavations began at Çatalhöyük in the 1950s. Artifacts like baskets, thin ropes, mats, and textiles are testament to the sophistication of Çatalhöyük’s inhabitants, some of whom wore human teeth as jewelry. The city petered out around 7,950 years ago, for reasons that aren’t entirely clear.

Bast fibers sit between the layer of bark and wood in trees, and are commonly sourced from willow and linden trees, in addition to oak. Importantly, timber from oak was used in the construction of some Çatalhöyük dwellings, which shows these people were no stranger to the tree.

[nicollo]

The Stone Wood Age?

Field Trials in Neolithic Woodworking – (Re)Learning to Use Early Neolithic Stone Adzes

I always wondered how they cut hardwood. Still, must have had a lot of time on their hands...

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin.

[rdl6989]

Where do you buy bamboo clothing?

[Jolla]

go on the internet, type in bamboo clothing and hit the shopping choice.
My girlfriend bought me some pajama bottoms last christmas and I liked them a lot and then bought a couple of t-shirts, super comfy in the Texas summer heat.