Oldest Evidence of Silk Found in 8,500-Year-Old Tombs

[Judi Lynn]

Oldest Evidence of Silk Found in 8,500-Year-Old Tombs
By Charles Q. Choi, Live Science Contributor | January 10, 2017 06:57am ET





Silk proteins were found in tombs at Jiahu in the Henan Province in central China. Shown here, grottoes in Henan Province.
Credit: Lao Ma / Shutterstock.com


The oldest evidence of silk made by silkworms has been found buried in 8,500-year-old tombs in China, revealing that people may have used the luxurious material thousands of years earlier than previously thought, a new study finds.

Silk was a rare luxury good in the ancient world. Its fame helped give a name to the Silk Road, the legendary network of trade routes that once connected the East and West from China to Rome.

The secret of how to make silk was first discovered in China. According to Chinese legend, after a silkworm cocoon dropped into the teacup of the wife of the Yellow Emperor, she found that the cocoon could unravel to yield about 3,300 feet (1 kilometer) of thread.

To learn more about the origins of silk, scientists investigated ruins dating back 9,000 years at Jiahu in the middle of Henan Province in central China. Previously at this site, scientists had unearthed bone flutes that are the earliest known playable musical instruments on Earth, as well as what may be the earliest Chinese writing. [In Photos: Ancient Silk Road Cemetery Contains Carvings of Mythical Creatures]

More:
http://www.livescience.com/57437-oldest-evidence-of-silk-found-china.html

[Canoe52]

1. Wow, that was 2,500 years before the earth was even created!

[denbot]

2. Snort!

Early runner for thread win.

[hunter]

3. Adam and Eve were just an irritating and quarrelsome young couple who'd been thrown off a boat.

Eve had pilfered some dried fruit from the cargo, which was very much against the rules.

Some of the crew wanted to throw them to the sharks in open water but the captain had them taken ashore, into the marshes of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

When the locals found Adam he really did look like he was made of mud and he was suffering some sort of amnesia because the captain's first mate had smacked him in the head with an oar after he'd refused to leave the boat.

Or so goes the story at the Time Traveler's Tavern.

[Canoe52]

4. Loved it!

Best version I've ever heard.