Identifying indigenous bast microfibers for archaeological research in East Asia

Abstract

East Asia, particularly China, has a long history of fiber production. Before cotton was introduced in historic times, bast fibers from various indigenous plants dominated fiber technologies. Previous studies on early fiber technology primarily relied on indirect evidence because actual fiber and textile remains are extremely rare in archaeological contexts. Such materials tend to decay quickly in normal environmental conditions, a situation that negatively impacts on our knowledge of the origin and diversity of fiber technology in the past. However, archaeologists have often observed microfiber remains when conducting microfossil analysis (such as starch and phytoliths) on artifact residues and soils, indicating a great potential for the study of ancient fibers from archaeological contexts. In this study, we first analyze morphological features of five modern bast fibers indigenous to East Asia, including hemp, ramie, kudzu vine, velvet leaf, and paper mulberry, to create a reference database; then we discuss the applicability of these features to identification of archaeological microfiber remains.