30,000-Year-Old Wild Flax Fibers
Abstract
A unique finding of wild flax fibers from a series of Upper Paleolithic layers at Dzudzuana Cave, located in the foothills of the Caucasus, Georgia, indicates that prehistoric hunter-gatherers were making cords for hafting stone tools, weaving baskets, or sewing garments. Radiocarbon dates demonstrate that the cave was inhabited intermittently during several periods dated to 32 to 26 thousand years before the present (kyr B.P.), 23 to 19 kyr B.P., and 13 to 11 kyr B.P. Spun, dyed, and knotted flax fibers are common. Apparently, climatic fluctuations recorded in the cave’s deposits did not affect the growth of the plants because a certain level of humidity was sustained.
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Supplementary Material
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References and Notes
1
T. Meshveliani et al., in The Early Upper Paleolithic Beyond Western Europe, P. J. Brantingham et al., Eds. (Univ. of California Press, Berkeley, 2004), pp. 129–143.
2
Materials and methods are available as supporting material on Science Online.
3
Adovasio J. M., et al., Archaeol. Ethnol. Anthropol. Eurasia 2001, 48 (2001).
4
Nadel D., et al., Curr. Anthropol. 35, 451 (1994).
5
A. A. Grossgeim, Rastitel’nye resursy Kavkaza (Plant Resources of the Caucasus) (The Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan SSR Press, Baku, Azerbaijan, 1946).
6
Van Geel B., Artroot A., Nova Hedwigia 82, 3 (2006).
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Published In
Science
Volume 325 | Issue 5946
11 September 2009
11 September 2009
Copyright
Copyright © 2009, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Submission history
Received: 24 April 2009
Accepted: 29 June 2009
Published in print: 11 September 2009
Acknowledgments
The American School of Prehistoric Research, Peabody Museum, Harvard University, funded this project; J. P. Wild helped in the identification of flax, cotton, and wool fibers; D. Lordkipanidze, I. Koridze, and G. Bar-Oz provided assistance; and D. Pilbeam, C. Brezine, and anonymous reviewers provided valuable comments.
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