Ancient World

History of hide materials

Humanity has used animal hides since the Paleolithic (beginning approximately 400,000 years ago) for clothing, mobile shelters such as tipis and wigwams, and household items. Since ancient times, hides have also been used as a writing medium in the form of parchment. Fur clothing was used by other hominids (at least the Neanderthals), although their use was probably limited to rudimentary capes based on thermal-modeling studies that indicate the necessity of additional insulation for survival in glacial climates. Rawhide is a simple hide product which stiffens. Formerly used for binding pieces of wood together, it is primarily found in drum skins. Tanning of hides to manufacture leather was invented during the Paleolithic, with the earliest evidence of hide-processing tools found at Hoxne in England and Qesem cave, Israel, dating to about 400,000 years ago. Parchment for writing was introduced during the Bronze Age, and was later refined into vellum before paper became common.

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸Deir el-Bahari
• ▸Broken consort
• ▸Holy of Holies

Uncatalogued shelf

Text from Wikipedia; plate via Wikimedia Commons. Text CC BY-SA 4.0; plate freely licensed (see Commons). Source record. Images and catalogue data are reproduced from open-access collections.