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Rug and rug making span the same time as
mankind's history. Ealiest Man would use animal hides for
a rug, as the floors were usually earthen and the hides would
give protection form the moisture, dampness of the ground
and keep the floor warm.
Woven rugs early on were made from crudely woven mats from
woven reeds, Often the prize posseession of a family would
be these mats and a good animal hide. Researchers have found
several refernces to the art of rug weaving in ancient scriptures
and classiclal writings, establisihing a reasonable time line
for the beginning of rug weaving.
More than 4,000 years ago there is evidence of the begining
of the flat weave, based on fragments that have been found
in Mesopotamian and Egyptian tombs. The evidence also show
that weaving of pil rugs started around 2000 BC in the Middle
East.
The first to do these types of weaving archiology shows, where
started by the nomdice wanderers of Asia, They produced them
in quanity. As sheep and goat raising was a traditional way
for them to trade for goods and services, the wool and hair
the sheep and goats gave them, at first most weaving was then
likely used for covering to protect against the cold. It is
believed that the weaving of rugs with this wool fiber was
refined then used to replace the rough hides and also to bring
tribal history and beliefs to their home. These were nomadic
wanders and the sheep were one of the ways to use for bartering
for things that they could not make themselves.
In 1949, a Russian archeologist, Sergei Rudenko discoved what
is know as the "Pazyryk" carpet in a Siberian burial
site. This is the oldest know surviving rug, being preserved
by the ice the carpets fiber, color and design was intack.
Dating back to the 5th century BC. This rug had knotted weave
called the Ghiordes or Turkish knot. With an average of 200
knots per square inch.
It was 1000 AD when the art of pile rug weaving
started in Europe most believe starting in Spain due to its
location in relation to Egypt, Persia/Iran which had good
information and long history about rug and rug weaving. This
was significant historically through the historically significant
events such as the Moors in spain and the Crusades in the
11th through the 13th centuries. Marco Polo journeys in the
late 1200's to the orient added to the knowlege of rug weaving.
In the Royal palaces in Europe were the only places that had
rugs, All other land owners would use weave mats from rushes
and hay to cover the earthen floors even daily in some of
the historical records, until rug weaving became popular in
Great Britain and Scandinavian countries in that time period
around the mid 1200's AD. However because of the poor quality,
most of these rugs did not survive as they could not compete
with the hand made quality a rug from the Orient and Persia
/Iran areas, It was not until the 1800's that the loom and
mass production of weaved rugs were beomg made in a production
weaving plants. And machine made rug industry started after
World War II, where they concentrated on the rugs that they
could do weel and left the making of hand made rugs to those
who had been doing them for centuries.
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