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Clothes from 8k Years Ago Were Made from Trees, New Research Suggests
- truculent 5y agoSee also: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkcloth https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkcloth
- georgeoliver 5y agoFor tree and/or ancient history nerds I highly recommend this book, https://www.williambryantlogan.com/oak https://www.williambryantlogan.com/oak
- pueblito 5y agoPolynesians make fabric from trees so this isn’t very surprising to me
- omnicognate 5y agoI'm wearing bamboo socks right now.
- gusgus01 5y agoTechnically, bamboo is a grass.
- ravenstine 5y agoTechnically, there's no taxonomic group for trees. Palms are grasses too but are considered trees. Though I suppose bamboo doesn't fit into the concept of what a tree is depending on how one looks at it.
- mythrwy 5y agoBoth palms and grasses are monocots (only one seed leaf as opposed to two and parallel veins as opposed to the type of veins you might see on an oak leaf). Palms are not members of the grass family (Poaceae) though.
- resoluteteeth 5y agoBamboo fabrics are rayon and I don't think that process would have been possible before modern technology so it's a bit different.
- omnicognate 5y agoYeah, modern bamboo fabric is rayon. Bamboo fabric has been around for thousands of years, apparently, but stiff stuff, not suitable for clothing.
- bdcravens 5y agoIt's less common, but there's also a lyocell process for bamboo. (I have sheets and towels that are bamboo lyocell, and they feel amazing) It's also likely only possible using modern technology, but it is far more environmentally friendly than bamboo rayon (aka viscose).
- ggm 5y agoBecause long sheets are available so you don't have to invent weaving? Or because the bast is long staple and can be spun? Bark "tapa" cloth is beaten into sheet form in Oceania and like places.
- kwelstr 5y agoThis is interesting, they were using bast fibers from oak trees, or fibers that sit between the bark and wood of the tree. They are soft fibers that can be collected and weaved into cloth. Wikipedia has an article (1) and pictures of modern bast fiber weaving in Norway. 1- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bast_fibre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bast_fibre
- Tagbert 5y agoThose same bast fibers from western red cedar trees were used by native people in the US Pacific Northwest area for clothing. Hats and cloaks were common. The clothes have a texture like soft paper and are water repellent.
- ncmncm 5y agoPolynesians have long made "tapa" or "kapa" cloth from mulberry bark. It involved a great deal of hammering using a custom stone hammer with a flat face a couple inches wide and maybe 8 inches long, with a grooved surface. I expect the bark was laid over a flattened log.
- yosito 5y agoSo the Bible was right about the fig leaves all along?
- Cthulhu_ 5y agoWas there ever any doubt? I mean religious skepticism aside, there's plenty of accurate or sane information in the bible.
- AutumnCurtain 5y agoOf all the things to doubt in the Bible the ability to cover yourself with a fig leaf is not a major one for me
- 67868fdav324 5y agoI guess at some point after the ice retreated, people started to get too hot into their leather clothes, so this came in handy. Just imagine being at 30° with leather jacket + pants pursuing some damn fast animal for a couple of miles. You NEED lighter clothes.
- pif 5y agoAt 30° you do not need clothes at all.
- CountDrewku 5y agoI'd argue that having some light clothing to wick away moisture is better than wearing your birthday suit. Additionally having a bit of protection for certain parts is a good idea when you're running through brush and doing things that are likely to do abrasive things to your skin.
- KineticLensman 5y agoYes. Clothes also provide pockets and attachment points
- pif 5y agoYes, you're right.
- bdcravens 5y ago86 degrees for the Fahrenheit-ers :-)
- sinuhe69 5y agoClothes today are still made from tree :)
- bitxbitxbitcoin 5y agoTree being hemp?
- DFHippie 5y agoMaybe this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyocell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyocell
- waltbosz 5y agoTotally off-topic observation: I find it curious that OP changed headline from "8000" to "8k". My scanning eyes converted 8k into a measurement of money/data, instead of one of time.
- CapitalistCartr 5y agoEditing title to fit in HN's 80 character limit. He got this down to 69.
- Arun2009 5y agoOne often comes across the term "valkala" in Indian scriptures, which means clothes made of tree bark, usually in the context of asceticism. E.g., see here: https://sanskritdictionary.org/valkala https://sanskritdictionary.org/valkala Apparently, someone wrote a paper about it: "Barkcloth in India-Sanskrit Valkala", https://www.jstor.org/stable/597920 https://www.jstor.org/stable/597920
- ncmncm 5y agoThe idea that 7000 BCE is "shortly after the last ice age" is funny. We could as well say the present day is shortly after Julius Caesar was assassinated in front of the Roman Senate. Something that really is coincident with the end of the last ice age (technically, the end of the 1200-year Younger Dryas cold spell brought on by a bolide strike on the North American ice sheet) is Gobekli Tepe. That was, thus, built some 2000 years before this fabric was made. The 200m sea level rise that started ~20kya was ending about then, with the final bits of what had been the Persian Gulf river valley filling in.
- ncmncm 5y agoJust to be clear, the last bit of sea level rise was coincident with this cloth's manufacture.