美國(guó)哈佛大學(xué)和格魯吉亞國(guó)家博物館等機(jī)構(gòu)的考古人員9月11日公布研究成果稱,，他們?cè)诟耵敿獊喚硟?nèi)發(fā)現(xiàn)了距今3.4萬(wàn)年的亞麻纖維,，這可能是人類使用過的年代最久遠(yuǎn)的植物纖維,。
考古人員在1996年就開始了挖掘工作,。他們利用顯微鏡研究樣品時(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)了這些野生亞麻纖維,，并利用放射性碳測(cè)定了其年代,。這些纖維中有些留有紡織的痕跡，另有一些被染成黑色,、灰色,、粉紅色等。
考古人員據(jù)此推測(cè),，3萬(wàn)年前,，高加索地區(qū)的人們已經(jīng)在從事紡織和染色，利用這些纖維制作日常用品,?？脊沤绱饲鞍l(fā)現(xiàn)的最古老植物纖維出土于捷克境內(nèi)，距今2.8萬(wàn)年,。
考古人員還在考古點(diǎn)發(fā)現(xiàn)了動(dòng)物毛發(fā)及生長(zhǎng)在紡織物上的真菌,。他們認(rèn)為，這些可被視為早期人類對(duì)皮毛和布料進(jìn)行加工的證據(jù),。
這項(xiàng)研究成果已發(fā)表在11日出版的新一期美國(guó)《科學(xué)》雜志上,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Science 11 September 2009:DOI: 10.1126/science.1175404
30,000-Year-Old Wild Flax Fibers
Eliso Kvavadze,1 Ofer Bar-Yosef,2,* Anna Belfer-Cohen,3 Elisabetta Boaretto,4 Nino Jakeli,5 Zinovi Matskevich,2 Tengiz Meshveliani5
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.
1 Institute of Paleobiology, National Museum of Georgia, Tbilisi 380007, Georgia.
2 Department of Anthropology, Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
3 Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91905, Israel.
4 Radiocarbon Dating and Cosmogenic Isotopes Laboratory, Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel, and Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 59100, Israel.
5 Georgian State Museum, Department of Prehistory, Tbilisi 380105, Georgia.
