The Ancient Origin of Wool

Photograph courtesy of 

http://freshfarmhouse.tumblr.com/post/99987123631/burning-soul-rosie-the-lamb

"It is not about the pasture of the sheep, but about their wool."  - Pope Pius II

Wool dates back before the time of recorded history when man would clothe himself in the wool of the wild sheep he hunted.  The discovery of this new covering provided protection from all of the elements.  The cultivation of wool is depicted in ancient drawings on cave walls all around the world.  As man and his thinking evolved, he came to the realization that to kill each sheep for its meat was a waste of a very valuable resource.  

Cave drawing.  Photograph courtesy of http://www.iwto.org/wool/history-of-wool/

The only animal thought to be domesticated before the sheep is the dog, which assisted men in becoming shepherds.  Wool began to be spun and woven by hand in Northern Europe before 10,000 BC.  Soon a crude spindle came about by fitting a clay ring to the end of a wooden stick.  This was the standard method for thousands of years and is even still in practice in some communities today.  These people had soon developed two methods for manipulating wool; the the spindle for spinning and the loom for weaving.  Improvements continued to be made on these instruments until around 500 AD when the first spinning-wheel came about.  One turn of a spinning-wheel was the equivalent of twenty turns of a spindle.  This saved much time and effort and allowed the methods to become much more efficient.  

When the Romans invaded the British islands in 55 BC they found the woolen products, "so fine it was compared with a spider's web."  By the twelfth century, wool was Britain's greatest national asset.  The peak of the industry was during the thirteenth century but quickly declined after that due to political instability.  Political situations became better in the late fourteenth century and cloth from English looms achieved international reputations because of the quality of their raw wool products.  Britain continued to be the wool capital of the world for years to come.  

The Industrial Revolution of 1750-1850 caused a great disruption in the world of wool.  Manufacturing methods that had gone unchanged since the fourteenth were now becoming subject to change.  Riots challenged manufacturers and destroyed machinery but it was the machines that eventually won. 

Production of yarn at White Oak Mills textile mill, 1907.  Photograph courtesy of http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newsouth/5493

Coming from a family of sheep myself, I understand and appreciate the work that goes into the cultivation of wool.  It includes methods anywhere from promoting good bloodlines in your herd to insuring a qualified buyer of your wool when it is in the raw.  Wool is a material that is still in high demand today and it requires a lot of care between the back of the sheep to the store shelf.  Man will never be able to reproduce a material that is as efficient and has all the qualities of wool.

History of Wool. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.iwto.org/wool/history-of-wool/