How did flax revolutionize clothing?
By Chelsie Vandaveer April 22, 2003 killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~ Suggested Reading—>Click here. Assorted Killer Savings Garden Links—>Click here. Flax fibers are one of the earliest plant fibers used by humans and may well be the first widely cultivated plant for the purpose of cloth production. Flax (Linum usitatissimum Linnaeus) is the source of linseed oil and the fiber woven into linen. The oily seed may have been what first attracted early humans, the oils and proteins were high energy food for hunter-gatherers. It is thought flax cultivation began in the Middle East and in China during the Neolithic (8000 to 5000 BCE), the time when humans were settling into agricultural villages. Flax fibers are produced in the stem and must be retted or separated from the rest of the plant material to be useful. The oldest process (wet-retting) was probably discovered by accident; flax stems dropped in water separated from the fibers.
