New analysis suggests Neolithic individuals on the historical metropolis of Çatalhöyük used a shocking supply of fibers to make clothes: timber.

Cloth fragments discovered at Çatalhöyük have been comprised of the bast fibers of oak timber, in accordance with research printed within the journal Antiquity. The authors of the brand new paper analyzed among the oldest recognized woven materials on the earth, in a discovering that speaks to an unappreciated materials used throughout the Stone Age.

The paper subsequently settles a longstanding debate about whether or not linen or wool was used to make the Çatalhöyük materials, because the analysis discovered them to be comprised of neither materials. Lise Bender Jørgensen from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology is the primary creator of the research.

Çatalhöyük (pronounced cha-tal-ho-yook) is considered one of my favourite archaeological websites on the earth. Appearing some 9,000 years in the past in what’s now Turkey, it’s among the many world’s most historical settlements. At its peak, the Stone Age metropolis hosted someplace between 3,500 and eight,000 individuals, and its timing on the early Neolithic (the final ice age had simply barely ended) blurs the boundary between hunter-gatherer tradition and the emergence of farming communities. What’s extra, Çatalhöyük, regardless of its ancientness (if that’s a phrase), skilled many trendy issues, equivalent to overcrowding, sanitation points, and interpersonal violence.

Archaeologists have explored 18 distinctive layers of sediment since excavations started at Çatalhöyük within the Nineteen Fifties. Artifacts like baskets, skinny ropes, mats, and textiles are testomony to the sophistication of Çatalhöyük’s inhabitants, a few of whom wore human tooth as jewellery. The metropolis petered out round 7,950 years in the past, for causes that aren’t solely clear.

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Some of those aforementioned textiles were uncovered in the 1960s. A debate immediately emerged as to whether they were linen (fibers made from flax plants) or wool (fibers sourced from sheep and lamb). The late British archaeologist James Mellaart made the case for wool, pointing to the remains of ram and sheep recovered at the site (as an aside, Mellaart was later accused of selling artifacts on the black market, and it was learned after his death that he had fabricated evidence—though not about these textiles). Research done in the 1980s would go on to claim that the fibers were made from flax, furthering the debate.

Digs at Çatalhöyük have been ongoing for the past several decades, including excavations led by Ian Hodder. The Stanford University archaeologist helped to uncover more evidence of textiles at the site, which were found to be between 8,500 and 8,700 years old. The ensuing investigation into these fabrics included Bender Jørgensen and Antoinette Rast-Eicher from the University of Bern, the latter an expert in identifying the source of fabric fibers. Using a scanning electron microscope, the researchers found evidence showing that the fibers were made from oak bast and that the bast was sourced locally.

“These findings shed new light on early textile production in the Neolithic, suggesting that tree bast played a more significant role than previously recognised,” the scientists wrote of their paper.

Bast fibers sit between the layer of bark and wood in trees, and are commonly sourced from willow and linden trees, in addition to oak. Importantly, timber from oak was used in the construction of some Çatalhöyük dwellings, which shows these people were no stranger to the tree.

“In the past, researchers largely neglected the possibility that the fabric fibres could be anything other than wool or linen, but lately another material has received more attention,” Bender Jørgensen told Norwegian SciTech News, which experiences on analysis from the NTNU. “Bast fibres were used for thousands of years to make rope, thread, and in turn also yarn and cloth.”

This finding jibes with other evidence—or rather, the lack of evidence, namely the near absence of flax seeds at Çatalhöyük, according to the paper. These Stone Age people, it would appear, didn’t cultivate flax, nor did they import flax from elsewhere. So the idea that linens were used in Çatalhöyük some 8,000 years ago simply doesn’t add up.

I’m often astounded at the resourcefulness and creativity shown by prehistoric humans, and this latest paper is further proof of that. That clothing could actually be made from an oak tree blows by mind, and it’s a reminder that we all stand on the shoulders of our ancestors.

More: Child Skull of Enigmatic Ancient Human Found in South African Cave.