Early wool of Mesopotamia, c. 7000–3000 BC. Between prestige and economy

Breniquet, Catherine

doi:10.2307/j.ctv13pk7d6.9

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…BCE), based on mortality profiles, spindle whorls apparently used for wool, and a couple of questionable textile finds [170][171][172][173]. More definitive evidence for spinnable wool production emerges in the 5th-4th millennium BCE Chalcolithic-a period of intensification in livestock exploitation for non-meat products like milk, animal fiber, and traction, originally conceived as the 'Secondary Products Revolution' [174][175][176][177][178]. Intensified wool production is well-attested by the late-4th millennium onset of the Early Bronze Age in Mesopotamia and is a component of agricultural intensification associated with Bronze Age urbanism in the Levant [179], Anatolia [180] and Mesopotamia proper [177,[181][182][183].…”

Section: Wool Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More definitive evidence for spinnable wool production emerges in the 5th-4th millennium BCE Chalcolithic-a period of intensification in livestock exploitation for non-meat products like milk, animal fiber, and traction, originally conceived as the 'Secondary Products Revolution' [174][175][176][177][178]. Intensified wool production is well-attested by the late-4th millennium onset of the Early Bronze Age in Mesopotamia and is a component of agricultural intensification associated with Bronze Age urbanism in the Levant [179], Anatolia [180] and Mesopotamia proper [177,[181][182][183]. Institutional palatial and priestly production systems organized much of this production from the mid-3rd millennium BCE in Mesopotamia, encouraging specialized flocks and breeds [127,[184][185][186][187].…”

Section: Wool Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Time to Sow, a Time to Reap: Modifications to Biological and Economic Rhythms in Southwest Asian Plant and Animal Domestication

et al. 2022

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This paper reviews changes to lifecycle temporality in Southwest Asian plant and animal domestication, exploring their relationship to long-term processes associated with ancient and contemporary globalization. We survey changes under domestication to the timing of seed dispersal, germination, vegetative growth, flowering and maturation in wheat and barley and to birth, reproduction, lactation, wool production and death in sheep, goats and cattle. Changes in biological temporality among domesticates are ultimately related to globally increasing production intensity, geographic diffusion, and agricultural diversity associated with cultivar/breed evolution. Recently, however, increasing crop production intensity and geographic diffusion are accompanied by declining agricultural diversity worldwide. Similar processes are apparent in contemporary economic and cultural globalization, suggesting that long-term agricultural developments might be viewed as a subset of globalization. Moreover, the origin of certain features of contemporary globalization may be traced back to the beginnings of plant and animal domestication. Thus, while biologists since Darwin considered domestication as a model for the study of evolution, we suggest that domestication may also offer a model for the study of globalization.

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Section: Wool Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Wool Growthmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Time to Sow, a Time to Reap: Modifications to Biological and Economic Rhythms in Southwest Asian Plant and Animal Domestication

et al. 2022

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“…Production of wool from domesticated sheep was part of the Secondary Products Revolution ( Sherratt, 1983 ). Some scholars believe that this technology may have been developed around the 4 th millennium BC during the Late Chalcolithic period ( Sherratt, 1983 ; Becker et al., 2016 ), while others have argued that wool processing developed as early as 7,000 BC in Mesopotamia as the first fiber of prestige before becoming more widely available ( Breniquet, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The earliest cotton fibers and Pan-regional contacts in the Near East

et al. 2022

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Fiber technology (cordage and textile) has played a central role in all human societies for thousands of years, and its production, application and exchange have deep roots in prehistory. However, fiber remains have only rarely been observed in prehistoric sites because they tend to decay quickly in normal environmental conditions. To overcome preservation problems of macroscopic remains, we employed microbotanical analysis on soils from anthropogenic sediments in activity areas at Tel Tsaf in the Jordan Valley, Israel (ca. 5,200–4,700 cal BC), and recovered fiber microremains. This includes at least two types of bast fibers and the earliest evidence of cotton in the Near East, some of which were dyed in various colors. Some of these fibers likely represent the remnants of ancient clothing, fabric containers, cordage, or other belongings. The cotton remains, probably derived from wild species originating in South Asia, predate the oldest known cotton domestication in the Indus Valley by about two millennia. Tel Tsaf played a pivotal role in trans-regional trade and exchange networks in the southern Levant, and the presence of cotton at the site points to possible connections with the Indus Valley as early as 7,200 years ago.

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