Posted by Michael Wendorf on March 31, 1999 at 09:48:40:
In Reply to: Re: woven bags posted by Maude Pattullo on March 30, 1999 at 21:28:18:
: Actually, there is evidence from the early 6th millennium BC, from sites in the Western Zagros Mountains, that the earliest pottery was made (read, "pottery-making" was "discovered") by folks who coated woven baskets in mud, perhaps to keep the basket or food within from burning when set in the campfire. The textile, whether vegetal or animal fiber, burned away, leaving a very useful item behind in the ashes. Sherds impressed with actual 'textile' markings were discovered in the
: late 1970's; I cannot remember the name of the
: site, but I am pretty sure it was never properly
: published.
: Additionally, it is believed that the first "true" pottery from the same general region was decorated with excised patterns to mimic woven containers.
: Much of this is, of course, in the eye of the beholder.
: Maude Pattullo
Dear Maude and other Turkotekers:
On a recent visit to the Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. (to watch the tarantula feedings) I went through the early civilization exhibit and was reminded that sheep were domesticated in historic Kurdistan as early as the ninth millenium B.C. and that what anthropologists refer to as organized communities existed in the sixth. It is possible that people were weaving in this area throughout this period, though what the weavings may have looked liked and how they may have been used is unclear. MW