Archaeologists say they have discovered the oldest cloth ever found, a fragment dating to 7000 B.C.
The semifossilized cloth - about 3 inches by 1 1/2 inches and possibly linen - was found in southeastern Turkey, clinging to what was probably the handle of a tool made from an antler, the University of Chicago said Friday.It is at least 500 years older than any cloth ever found before.
"This is a fascinating discovery because it pushes back the date at which we know textiles were produced," said Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, director of the Stitching Textile Research Center at the National Museum of Ethnology at Leiden in the Netherlands.
The cloth was recovered from Cayonu, an archaeological site near the Tigris River about 30 miles from the city of Diyarbakir. The site has been the scene of joint explorations by the University of Chicago and Istanbul University.
No cloth made earlier than about 6500 B.C. to 6000 B.C. previously had been discovered, the university said, although some minute clay impressions of textiles about the same age as the Cayonu cloth have been found.
Archaeologists said it is appropriate that Turkey, long a textile-producing center, should yield the earliest evidence of the craft.