Archaeology News: 1,700-Year-Old Sock Reveals The Height Of Fashion In The Days Of Ancient Egypt
British MuseumThe colorful, striped sock.
A sock that was dumped in the trash sometime in the early 1900s turned out to be an Ancient Egyptian artifact.
The 1,700-year-old sock was first discovered in the 1913-1914 excavation of a landfill in the Egyptian city of Antinooupolis. It is now in the hands of researchers at the British Museum of London where with the help of new, non-invasive technology, they can better unravel the sock’s history.
Because the sock was only created with a few dyes, the scientists could determine just how innovative the ancient Egyptians were with their scarce resources and weaving processes.
British MuseumOne of the multispectral images of the sock.
Beyond the insight into Egyptian trends, the sock also told scientists about Egypt during the Late Antique period which lasted from 250 A.D. to 800 A.D and saw such events as the Arab conquest of the country.
“These events affect the economy, trade, access to materials, which is all reflected in the technical makeup of what people were wearing and how they were making these objects,” said Dr. Joanne Dyer of the British Museum.
It seems our fashion choices of old could tell us more than just the personal tastes of the wearer, but also about the everyday life of an ancient civilization.
