Few of us stop to think about all the technology that goes into some of our day to day basics, or even the story behind it, and when I say I don’t mean modern gadgets like coffee makers, cell phones, etc. etc. among others, but a simple pair of pants.

So common in our clothing today, this item took years to perfect, thousands of years in fact, it contains some of the secrets of at least the oldest pavement in the world.

A group of archaeologists from Archaeological research in Asia with the help of a weaver, they were able to unravel some of the secrets of this 3000 year old object, which not only belongs to a design close to what we know, but is also an object made in a complex way.

“A variety of textile techniques and patterns from different origins, traditions and local times has merged into something new in this piece. East Central Asia was a laboratory where people, plants, animals, knowledge and experience from different directions and sources came … and were transformed. Mike Wagnerdirector of the German Archaeological Institute and participated in the research.

The item belonged to a knight who was buried between 1000 and 1200 BC. in western China and became known as “Turfan man“because his grave was found near a Chinese city turpan.

Science in ancient times

To sew pants, ancient weavers needed to combine three techniques to compose them, using each of them at strategic points in the garment such as the knees, knuckles, waistband and between the crotch where the fabric had space and was elastic, indicating a concern for so that the rider does not tear his pants while riding or fighting.

The fabric used at this stage was twill, which is a common denim material today but uncommon for the time. To give you an idea, the oldest piece of twill known to man came from a salt mine in Hallstattin Austria, and which, according to radiocarbon analysis, dates from 3500 to 3200 years ago.

Two other techniques were used, one of which was tapestry weaving, which allowed the weavers of the time to reinforce the knees of trousers with less flexible fabric so that they could protect the wearer’s joints in case of possible falls. While at the waist, the third method provided a thick belt that could hold the pants in place, perhaps to avoid awkward situations.

But what makes it even more surprising is that these various methods led archaeologists to believe that at some point turpan, may have had some contact with other cultures, because one of the patterns identified in the shape of the letter “T” is similar to others found in ceramics dating from 3800 to 3000 years old, located in Western Siberia. The same age as the pants, but the distance between them is 3000 kilometers.

We learn from pants Turfan manthat such an ordinary object of our daily life includes something much deeper than just a fabric, but a whole set of cultures. The full study can be viewed by clicking here.

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Source: ARS Technique