When early humankind needed warmth and protection for their bodies, what did they use? Animal hides, grasses, bark and other plantmaterial fashioned into crude garments most likely. When was it discovered thatfibers from plants and animals could be fashioned into something much moreflexible, versatile, and attractive? When was cloth invented? There is muchscientific and archaeological inquiry devoted to trying to answer thatquestion. As for the fibers themselves? There are four main types of natural fibersused in the creation of fabric and textiles; flax, cotton, wool and silk.
Most historians are in agreement that the first fiber used for the making oftextiles came from the flax plant. The fibers in the stem of the plant areremoved, cleaned, and woven together to make linen. Flax fibers were use tomake linen over 5,000 years ago, and was of such value that it was used forburial shrouds for Egyptian Pharaohs. The Egyptians mastered the art of makingfine linen, as some linen items found in tombs have threads so fine that theywere woven 200 to the inch.
There is archaeological evidence that dates to 3,000 years ago concerning thegrowing of cotton in the Indus River Valley region of Pakistan, and the use of it in making cloth to make apparel from. It was also being used inancient Egypt. It is believed that cotton was brought to Europe around 800 fromArab merchants. The invention of the cotton gin in the late 18th centurycombined with the dawn of the industrial revolution to help create inexpensivetextiles.
Wool is one of the most versatile fibers known. It can beused to produce very lightweight fabric to thick, heavy fabric. The oldestdocumented piece of wool textile was found in a bog in Denmark that dates to 1500 B.C.E. The ancestor of the domesticated sheep had long coarsehair that protected a short under layer of fleece. It is this short under layerthat is used in the production of wool textiles. Careful breeding has lead toover 40 different varieties of sheep used in the production of wool thatutilize that soft under layer. Wool has unique properties of water repellingand water absorption that no man made fiber has been able to duplicate. Woolremains a versatile and much-used fiber for all kinds of apparel and otherapplications.
The beginnings of silk is wrapped in the legend of The Goddess of Silk, thewife of the mythical Yellow Emperor of China, who is credited for introducingsilk to China over 5,000 years ago. Silk is derived from the cocoon of aspecific type of worm, and the documented evidence of an unearthed silkwormcocoon found in Northern China dates to around 2600 B.C.E. The cocoon of thesilkworm consists of one continuous filament that can be 1,800 2,700 feetlong. This filament is carefully unraveled from the cocoon and placed on aspool. A number of these filaments (usually five to eight) are spun together tocreate a single silk thread. The silk thread is then woven into textiles.Clothing made from silk has the ability to be warm in cool weather, and cool inhot weather.
The historically recent creation of man-made fibers has not eliminated the useof natural ones. Natural fibers have qualities that have not been duplicated.After more than 5000 years, humans still want and enjoy the warmth of wool, thefeel of cotton, the characteristics of linen and the beauty of silk.
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