This week in Science, a multinational research project reported on the archaeological discovery of dyed and spun flax fibers from an Upper Paleolithic cave in the Republic of Georgia, dated to ~31,000-36,000 cal BP.
Wild flax fibers from Unit C, Dzudzuana Cave, Georgia. Image courtesy of Science/AAAS
Dzudzuana Cave is a rockshelter in Georgia, with four Upper Paleolithic occupations, the oldest dated between 31,000 and 36,000 calibrated years before the present. The flax fibers were discovered in clay samples taken from each of the four occupations, and found to have been cut, twisted, spun and woven, and, most surprisingly, dyed, in turquoise, pink, grey and black colors. I, naturally, had to make a photo essay out of this fascinating story.
- Upper Paleolithic Textiles from Dzudzuana Cave, the photo essay
- Dzudzuana Cave, detailed site description
Kvavadze, Eliso, et al. 2009 30,000-Year-Old Wild Flax Fibers. Science 325:1359.
News Stories and Blogs
- BBC: Most ancient coloured twine found
- Science Daily: Archaeologists Discover Oldest-known Fiber Materials Used By Early Humans
- AFP: Earliest fibers found in Georgia, dating back 34,000 years
- CBC: Oldest cloth fibres found in Georgia
- Scientific American: Colorful 32,000-year-old fibers prove to be some of the world's oldest
Comments
I believe we may have found the evidence of the earliest known long underwear. It is a breathable themoregulating fabric commonly used for underwear The word linen is derived from the Latin for the flax plant, which is linum, and the earlier Greek linon. This word history has given rise to a number of terms including lining, due to the fact that linen was often used to create a lining for wool and leather clothing Lingerie, via French, originally denotes underwear made of linen. In the past, the word also referred to lightweight undergarments such as shirts, chemises, waistshirts, lingerie, and detachable shirt collars and cuffs. Climate changes in 13th & 14th century (mini-ice age) meant lots of underwear, and paper was made from used underwear every spring.
Hi Kris…
Thanks for presenting this very interesting find. However, I’m experiencing a bit of cognitive dissonance. For several years now I’ve been told by US archaeologists, despite persistent evidence to the contrary, that natural dyes in fibers from well beneath the undisturbed surface of an apparent Early or Middle Woodland site here in Ohio could not possibly have survived for so long a time (2000 years or thereabouts). Now we’re being told that such dyed fibers from 30,000 years BP have appeared in Caucasus. What? Is it conceivable that our Wise Ones might be mistaken? If not, should we perhaps send a delegation across the pond to enlighten those benighted foreigners before they further corrupt our understanding of the archaeological record?
Regards, Alan
Really? Hmmm. I was under the impression that archaeological science changes all the time, that in fact if it didn’t change and expand there would be nothing for me to write about–or, more to the point, anybody else for that matter. Of course, there may be some resistance in some quarters (grin).
Seriously, I don’t know the specifics of the preservation environment–the Science paper is only a page long and such details are missing, but this is an excellent question.
Kris
In answer to Alan’s comment: Climate and geology play an enormous part in what gets preserved and what disintegrated over time. I would hazard a guess that the archeoclimate in the Ohio Woodlands and that of the Caucasus region were sufficiently different; geology as well. For example — human remains survive over thousands of years, well-preserved both in ice and in desert conditions. In moister areas (save for the acidic bogs of Northern Europe and the British Isles), rapid decomposition takes place.
It seems to me that these fibres could indeed have survived — scraps though they are — under optimal conditions. This is an extremely exciting find and I look forward to finding out more about it! Thank you.
Hello Judith…
Thanks for those observations. Right, a site’s geomorphology is indeed a critical factor in preservation. What we have here in southeastern Ohio is unglaciated “maturely dissected Appalachian plateau”, meaning, in this case, dense clay and a lot of sedimentary rock. It’s not like a peat bog, but it sure seems to work, preserving both the colored fibers and sometimes verified human hairs in direct context, occasionally even intertwined with the fibers (weird!). (No mtDNA surviving so far, unfortunately.)
Yeah, I think the stuff here is exciting, but there’s the eternal problem of getting the pros involved in an avocational project. (And if the material “shouldn’t be there”, better not show too much interest, right?) One thing that just might get things rolling is the recently recognized presence at the site of a roughly 160 m (525′) straight and symmetrical earthen wall having a morphology very closely corresponding to that of Hopewell structures. And two well-preserved vividly red fibers have appeared in the clay within the structure’s interior. As opposed to tiny fibers, a feature this large is a bit hard to ignore, and some professional interest in a site visit has been expressed for later in the year when the venue is less jungle-like. We’ll see…
Regards, Alan