Rugs

Rugs

The History Of Rugs

By James Adams
The history of rugs is quite amazing. The weaving of rugs and
carpets dates back to at least 500 BC. Rugs are made by weaving,
at least this is how they started making rugs. Weaving is
nothing new, our ancestors have been doing it for thousands of
years. The first weaving that was done was to make baskets. They
made baskets out of anything that was pliable, leaves, grass,
twigs and whatever materials could be found at the time.

The most common material used for rugs back then was most
likely goat and sheep hair. Later on the Chinese produced wool
piles. Some of the first Chinese rugs and carpets were made out
of cotton and wool backings.

Some of the first looms were made with two branches that looked
like a fork and connected by a crosspiece. The binding threads
were then flattened with a bar usually made of wood. They later
learned to dye the threads with various natural colors from
fruit, vegetables, animals and bugs.

In 1769 a machine was invented by a Richard Arkwright. The
machine was designed to spin thread onto a bobbin. Not too many
years later a machine was designed to spin a thousand threads at
a time. Eventually it progressed to where we are at today.

An archaeologist in the 1950's found a rug that dated back to
500 BC or before. It was found in a frozen state in Siberia. It
was a knotted rug of Turkish descent. This just goes to show you
that rugs are by no means something new. Our ancestors have been
using them since the beginning of time.

Before people ever started weaving hunters would use the animal
hides they got off of their prey to make clothing, rugs, maps
and other various things. Today rugs are mass produced by
machines and most people have forgotten the history behind rugs.
When buying your next rug, remember the history of rugs!

About the Author: Learn more about the history of rugs at
http://www.oldandsold.com/articles15/rugs-1.shtml

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