In 2014, a team of archaeologists excavated tombs in western China and found the remains of two nomads and a pair of 3,000-year-old trousers, the oldest known trousers, according to Science News.
This discovery supports the theory that the transition from tunics to trousers was a practical development for horseback riders of the time.
Due to the rapid aging of fabrics and materials, it is no longer known when humans first began making clothes, but it is estimated to be between 100,000 and 500,000 years ago.
The earliest clothing must have been made of hides and furs, grass, leaves, bones, and shells. Clothing is usually draped over the body or tied together, although simple needles made from animal bones appeared at least 40,000 years ago, providing evidence of sewing leather and fur garments. When the settled Neolithic culture discovered the advantages of weaving fibers, cloth production became one of the basic techniques of human beings.
The earliest dyed fibers were found in a prehistoric cave in the Republic of Georgia and date back to 3 BC60,000 years.
In Europe and Asia, the earliest garments made from woven fabrics included simple tunics, robes, robes, wraps, and lace-ups. But at a certain time, this costume developed into more complex garments, including trousers. Researchers have been eager to find out when and why this development has occurred, and the latest findings help shed light on these issues.
Painted Egyptian tunics, circa 3275. National Museum of Egypt.
This ancient trouser is made of wool and has a straight leg with a wide crotch and a decorative pattern on the leg. The trousers were sewn from three pieces of brown woollen cloth, one for each leg and a lining at the crotch. There is no need to cut when sewing - the leg part is shaped to the final size on the loom. The finished pants include slits at the sides and a tie at the waist.
The research team, led by archaeologists Ulrike Beck and Mayke Wagner at the German Institute of Archaeology in Berlin, called the invention of the ancient trouser as:"A breakthrough achievement in the history of cloth making"。
The discovery was made in ChinaYanghai Ancient Tombs (located in North 1, Yanghai Xiamaili Village, Tuyugou Township, Shanshan County, Turpan Prefecture, Xinjiang5 km, on the southern slope of the Flaming Mountains on the Gobi Strip).Discovered in burials, where the dry climate and hot summers helped preserve human corpses, clothing and other organic materials. The most famous desert artifact in Xinjiang is the Tarim Mummies, a group of very well-preserved mummies with distinctly Caucasian features.
Archaeologists inOceansThe remains of two middle-aged men, a decorated leather horse bridle, a wooden horsebit, a battle axe, a leather arm guard to protect the arm, whips, a decorated horse's tail, a bow sheath and a bow were found in the tomb. These burial objects suggest that these people were both warriors and herders, which also supports previous research that nomads invented trousers to provide physical protection and freedom of movement when traveling on horseback and fighting on horseback.
Victor Mair, a linguist at the University of Pennsylvania and an authority on China, said:"This new article certainly supports the idea that trousers were invented by itinerant herders for horseback riding, and that trousers were brought to the Tarim Basin by horseback peoples.
Mayer suspects that horseback riding began with nomadic peoples about 3,400 years ago, and shortly thereafter the trouser-making craft emerged in the wetter regions of the northern and western Tarim Basin.
April Holloway reports.