Archaeologists use the word textiles to refer to woven cloth, bags, nets, basketry, cord-twisting, sandals and other perishable material created out of organic fibers.
Because these things are perishable, often the oldest evidence of the use of textiles is implied from impressions left in burned clay or the presence of weaving related tools such as awls, loom weights or spindle whorls. Preservation of intact fragments of cloth or other textiles is known from extreme conditions of cold, wet or dry; by contact with metals such as copper; or by charring.
Textiles and String
Before you make cloth, you must make string. The oldest identification of string-making is at Ohalo II in modern Israel, where three fragments of twisted and plied plant fibers were discovered and dated to 19,000 years ago. An extremely important use of string was as quipu, a system of communication composed of knotted and dyed string used by many South American civilizations at least 5,000 years ago.
Researchers associated with textiles include James Adovasio and Olga Soffer. Sites important for string and textiles include: Ohalo II; Sarurab 3 (Egypt), 10th millennium BP; Yuchanyan (China), 14th millennium BP. Pottery with cord impressions appears on Jomon sites as early as 15,500 BP; Windover Bog (Florida), 8,000 BP.
Further Information
Windover Bog site, Textile Tunic from Peru, Material Culture, Silk worms
A textile bibliography has been collected for this glossary entry.
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Any mistakes are the responsibility of Kris Hirst.
