Researched
Cordage & Weaving
Twisted plant fibre gives string, rope, nets and cloth: one of the most useful and least preserved inventions.
Open in the interactive tree →Spun, knotted and even dyed wild flax fibres from Dzudzuana Cave in Georgia are about 30,000 to 36,000 years old, and textile impressions in clay from Dolní Věstonice are similar. String made nets, bindings, baskets and, much later, woven cloth and ship sails.
Prerequisites
- Clothing & the Sewing Needle~120,000-40,000 years ago
Unlocks
- Sailing Ship~3200 BCSails and rigging depend on rope and woven cloth
- Mechanized Textile Mills1764-1785Mills mechanised the ancient craft of twisting fibre into thread and weaving cloth
Not fully verified: Fibres rarely survive, and the flax identification at Dzudzuana has been questioned.
Sources
More in Foundations of Civilization · Prehistory
- Stone Tools~3.3 million years ago
- Mastering Fire~1.8 million-400,000 years ago
- Hunting Spears~300,000 years ago
- Spoken Languageat least ~135,000 years ago?
- Clothing & the Sewing Needle~120,000-40,000 years ago
- Burial & Religion~100,000 years ago
- Art & Symbols~73,000 years ago
- Bow and Arrow~60,000 years ago