In the city of Çatal-Huyük, which was founded about 9 thousand years ago on the territory of modern Turkey, archaeologists have discovered fossilized pieces of cloth.
Before that, the experts believed that the inhabitants of the country used wool or flax for the production of cloth. The study shows that the material has a very different structure, writes Phys.org.
Excavations in the ancient city ended in 2017. Archaeologists then discovered a few more pieces of ancient material. As a result, the scientists found that their age is approximately 8500-8700 years.
The research on the fabrics was commissioned by Lisa Bender Jorgensen, who works at the University of Norway, and Antoinette Rac Eicher of the University of Bern. To create clothes for themselves almost 9 thousand years ago, representatives of the Neolithic used a special fiber. This is the result shown by the analysis of the material performed by experts.
These samples, found at the site of the excavations, were made from the fiber of the oak. It is believed to indicate that this fabric is the oldest in the world that has survived to this day.
The fiber is found in trees such as oak, willow and linden between the wood and the bark. The wood was used to build houses, and the fibers were used to make clothes, which were quite strong and reliable.
The researchers also add that the natives did not grow flax and did not bring linen materials from other cities. They used only those resources that were at hand.
