Researchers unearth ancient reed mat
Print Edition
A TEAM of scientists has identified a nearly 7,000-year-old reed mat discovered in east China, offering a rare glimpse into a very early stage of the civilization’s textile making.
Objects such as baskets woven from plants are among people’s oldest inventions. Their origin is believed to be related to the rise of agriculture, which fueled the need for grain and seed containers. Yet a lack of surviving items has long hampered studies.
According to an article published in the journal Scientific Reports, Zhang Jianping and his colleagues dated the remains of a woven mat unearthed at a Neolithic settlement site in Tianluoshan, Zhejiang Province, and put its age between 6,645 and 6,775 years, the oldest woven object to be discovered and dated in China.
It is more than 2,000 years older than the silk textiles found in Qianshanyang in Zhejiang and 1,000 years older than the Kudzu fabric discovered in Caoxieshan, east China’s Jiangsu Province, the article said.
The piece of yellow material is 50 centimeters long, 20-40cm wide and 0.2cm thick. Judging from its flat shape and lack of grain residue, it was more likely used as a mat, rather than a food container, said Zhang, who is a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
“Our guess is that our ancestors used it as a cover or bedding,” he said.
Following an examination, Zhang’s team concluded the mat was made of reeds, rather than bamboo or bulrushes.
Items made of plants are prone to decay after being buried, which explains why many ancient weaves were only identified by their imprints on other items, but Zhang said the mat was luckily placed in an oxygen-free environment filled with water that helped it survive.
The study could shed light on how reeds and other plants were woven into the daily life 7,000 years ago, while offering a new approach for identifying ancient weaving, he said.
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