Post by UKarchaeology on Apr 1, 2016 15:39:20 GMT
A piece of clothing found buried in an ancient Egyptian cemetery has been identified as the oldest known dress and the oldest woven garment in the world.
The item is known as the Tarkhan dress. It was discovered in 1912 by one of the most famous Egyptologists in history – William Flinders Petrie. Petrie excavated the site of Tarkhan, located 50 km (31.07 miles) south of Cairo, in 1912 – 1913. The impressive textile was found in one of the tombs, which was a large mud-brick niched construction. The tomb was built during the First Dynasty (c. 3218–3035 BC).
A dirty bundle of linen from the tomb was sent to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 1977 for conservation. It was only then that the V-neck linen shirt (or dress) with pleated sleeves was discovered. It has been preserved in remarkable condition. Apart from this treasured item of clothing, there were also 17 other different qualities of textiles.
“The survival of highly perishable textiles in the archaeological record is exceptional, the survival of complete, or almost complete, articles of clothing like the Tarkhan Dress is even more remarkable. We’ve always suspected that the dress dated from the First Dynasty but haven’t been able to confirm this as the sample previously needed for testing would have caused too much damage to the dress. Although the result is a little less precise than is now routinely possible through radiocarbon dating, as the sample was so small, it’s clear that the linen for the dress was made at the cusp of the First Dynasty or even earlier .”
Full story & pics: www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/dated-fashion-tarkhan-dress-oldest-woven-garment-world-005400