%0 Journal Article
%T Lessons on textile history and fibre durability from a 4,000-year-old Egyptian flax yarn
%+ Institut de Recherche Dupuy de Lôme (IRDL)
%+ University of Cambridge [UK] (CAM)
%+ Franche-Comté Électronique Mécanique, Thermique et Optique - Sciences et Technologies (UMR 6174) (FEMTO-ST)
%+ Musée du Louvre
%+ Unité de recherche sur les Biopolymères, Interactions Assemblages (BIA)
%+ Bois (BOIS)
%+ Synchrotron SOLEIL (SSOLEIL)
%A Melelli, Alessia
%A Shah, Darshil
%A Hapsari, Gemala
%A Cortopassi, Roberta
%A Durand, Sylvie
%A Arnould, Olivier
%A Placet, Vincent
%A Benazeth, Dominique
%A Beaugrand, Johnny
%A Jamme, Frédéric
%A Bourmaud, Alain
%Z INTERREG IV Cross Channel programme 23 ; SOLEIL Synchrotron : 99180266, 99200015.
%< avec comité de lecture
%Z BIA Nantes, INRAE Pays de la Loire, DOCNANT-2021/89
%@ 2055-026X
%J Nature Plants
%I Nature Publishing Group
%V 7
%P Early access
%8 2021-09-13
%D 2021
%R 10.1038/s41477-021-00998-8
%M 34518667
%Z Engineering Sciences [physics]/MaterialsJournal articles
%X Flax has a long and fascinating history. This plant was domesticated around 8,000 bce1 in the Fertile Crescent area2, first for its seeds and then for its fibres1,3. Although its uses existed long before domestication, residues of flax yarn dated 30,000 years ago have been found in the Caucasus area4. However, Ancient Egypt laid the foundations for the cultivation of flax as a textile fibre crop5. Today flax fibres are used in high-value textiles and in natural actuators6 or reinforcements in composite materials7. Flax is therefore a bridge between ages and civilizations. For several decades, the development of non- or micro-destructive analysis techniques has led to numerous works on the conservation of ancient textiles. Non-destructive methods, such as optical microscopy8 or vibrational techniques9,10, have been largely used to investigate archaeological textiles, principally to evaluate their degradation mechanisms and state of conservation. Vibrational spectroscopy studies can now benefit from synchrotron radiation11 and X-ray diffraction measurement in the archaeometric study of historical textiles12,13. Conservation of mechanical performance and the ultrastructural differences between ancient and modern flax varieties have not been examined thus far. Here we examine the morphological, ultrastructural and mechanical characteristics of a yarn from an Egyptian mortuary linen dating from the early Middle Kingdom (Eleventh Dynasty, ca. 2033–1963 bce) and compare them with a modern flax yarn to assess the quality and durability of ancient flax fibres and relate these to their processing methods. Advanced microscopy techniques, such as nano-tomography, multiphoton excitation microscopy and atomic force microscopy were used. Our findings reveal the cultural know-how of this ancient civilization in producing high-fineness fibres, as well as the exceptional durability of flax, which is sometimes questioned, demonstrating their potential as reinforcements in high-technology composites.
%G English
%2 https://hal.science/hal-03343240/document
%2 https://hal.science/hal-03343240/file/Arnould_al_Nature-Plants_2021.pdf
%L hal-03343240
%U https://hal.science/hal-03343240
%~ UNIV-BREST
%~ CNRS
%~ UNIV-FCOMTE
%~ UNIV-BM
%~ UNIV-UBS
%~ ENSMM
%~ FEMTO-ST
%~ LMGC
%~ UNIV-BM-THESE
%~ UBS
%~ ENIB
%~ IRDL
%~ SYNCHROTRON-SOLEIL
%~ MIPS
%~ UNIV-MONTPELLIER
%~ IRDL_UBS
%~ INRAE
%~ TEST-HALCNRS
%~ ANR
%~ GS-PHYSIQUE
%~ INSTITUT-SCIENCES-LUMIERE
%~ UM-2015-2021
%~ RESEAU-EAU
%~ BIA