How did flax revolutionize clothing?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
April 22, 2003
Suggested Reading: Click here.
Flax
fibers are one of the earliest plant fibers used by humans and may well be
the first widely cultivated plant for the purpose of cloth production. Flax
(Linum usitatissimum Linnaeus) is the source of linseed oil and
the fiber woven into linen. The oily seed may have been what first attracted
early humans, the oils and proteins were high energy food for hunter-gatherers.
It is thought flax cultivation began in the Middle East and in China during
the Neolithic (8000 to 5000 BCE), the time when humans were settling into
agricultural villages.
Flax
fibers are produced in the stem and must be retted or separated from the
rest of the plant material to be useful. The oldest process (wet-retting)
was probably discovered by accident; flax stems dropped in water separated
from the fibers.
John
Gerard wrote a brief description of wet-retting in England in the 1500s:
"Flaxe...After it is cut downe, the stalkes are put into the water subject
to the heate of the sunne, and some weight laid on them to be steeped therein;
the loosenes of the rinde is a signe when it is well steeped: then is it
taken up and dried in the sunne..." (The Herbal or General Historie of Plants, 1633 edition)
The
retting was actually done by anaerobic (not needing air or oxygen) bacteria
present in lakes and rivers. The bacteria digest the matrix materials leaving
the silky fibers. Wet-retting continued in use until early in the 20th century.
(Flax Fiber: Potential for a new Crop in the Southeast, Foulk, Akin, Dodd, and McAlister, 2002)
Flax cultivation was established in Egypt by 3000 BCE. The fine transparent shift, kalasiris, worn by Egyptian noble women was woven of linen. The draping Greek chiton
first made of wool was woven of linen by 500 BCE. Certainly linen was more
desirable than animal hides or wool against the skin. By the Middle Ages
most European estates cultivated flax and many peasant women were employed
in the retting and weaving of linen.
House Barra has a great page about the ancient Greek chiton
and European clothing descended from the dress. To learn more about Greek
dress or to make a chiton for yourself, click on the link:
http://www.housebarra.com/EP/ep05/14chiton.html
Kibbutz
Reshafim has two great pages about ancient Egyptian clothing and the cultivation
of flax. To learn more or make an Egyptian draped dress for yourself, click
on the links:
http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/clothing.htm
http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/flax.htm
Suggested Reading:
What was nettle cloth? Plants that Changed History - June 10, 2003
Why were hops added to beer? Weird Plants - December 12, 2002
What herbs prevented evil on Midsummer's Eve? Herbal Folklore - June 24, 2002
How did flax preserve history? Plants that Changed History - April 29, 2003
What is lint? What's in a Name? - April 25, 2003
What does flax need to create fine fibers? Weird Plants - April 24, 2003
How did flax revolutionize clothing? Plants that Changed History - April 22, 2003
Early American Weaving and Dyeing
ecampus.com
by J. Bronson
The Domestic Manufacturer's Assistant and Family Directory in the Arts of Weaving and Dyeing
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