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Archaeology Day
“Every fabric is a chronicle of its time — a record of human skill, trade, and imagination.”
~ Elizabeth Wayland Barber, archaeologist and author of Prehistoric Textiles: The Development of Cloth in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages (1991)
Archaeology Day celebrates the uncovering of humanity’s shared past — from the tools and tombs of early civilizations to the woven threads that tell stories across millennia. Few discoveries have linked cultures and craftsmanship so intriguingly as the ancient textiles of the Tarim Basin.
Based on a textile found in the Urumchi desert area of China, this tartan-like artifact was dated between 700–1200 BC. The mummies of Urumchi, discovered in the Tarim Basin region of the Mongolian desert, were clothed in various woven designs — plaids, twills, and checks — of which this pattern was one.
These remarkably well-preserved mummies, some dating as far back as 3000 BC, revealed advanced spinning and weaving techniques that surprised archaeologists for their sophistication and artistic complexity. The dry desert sands acted as a natural time capsule, preserving garments of finely spun wool dyed in reds, blues, and yellows — evidence of diagonal twills, herringbones, and balanced checks that predate similar patterns found in early European contexts by over a millennium.
The Urumchi textiles demonstrate that the art of patterned weaving was already highly developed along the ancient trade networks that would later form part of the Silk Road. They hint at early cultural exchanges between the Indo-European Tocharians and neighboring peoples who moved across the Central Asian steppes. The discovery continues to fascinate textile historians, revealing that tartan-like designs are part of a far older and wider Eurasian weaving tradition — one that stretches from the western plains to the deserts of western China. 🤎 💙 🤍 🧶 🧶 🧶
Tarim Basin / Xinjiang, China (Qizilchoqa, “Hami plaid”)
One of the most often-cited pre-Celtic tartan-like finds comes from Qizilchoqa (Red Hillock) in the Tarim Basin of modern Xinjiang. In 1979, excavation of a cemetery uncovered mummified individuals wearing garments woven in plaid or twill cloth. The fragments show up to six colors in stripes of varying widths, made from wool. Some researchers call the fabric “tartan tissue” or “Hami plaid,” and scholars have compared its structure and banding to later European tartans, though it predates them by many centuries.
The Tarim mummies also include linen, wool, and mixed textiles, preserved by the region’s dry desert climate. One “Hami fragment” is specifically described by the Penn Museum as resembling plaids from ancient central Europe. These finds suggest that the concept of intersecting colored stripes in woven fabric was already known in Central Asia long before the Celtic era.
Other Eurasian “Checked Stripe” Hints
Simple checked and striped fabrics appear throughout Bronze Age Europe, shown in reconstructions and art. Patterned weaving was possible in many early cultures, but few examples survive. The “Falkirk tartan” from Roman-era Scotland is an early checked cloth, though not a fully dyed tartan. Classical writers also described Gauls wearing striped or multicolored cloaks, but “striped” does not always mean woven checks, so these accounts must be read carefully.
Protohistorical / Early Iron Age Europe
By the Iron Age, weaving and dyeing techniques in Europe had become more advanced. In Scotland, the Falkirk fragment represents a simple two-tone check woven from undyed wool, showing the same basic structure later used in tartan. Surviving fragments from early Celtic or pre-Celtic Europe are extremely rare, so much of what is known is inferred rather than direct evidence.
Early Medieval to Medieval (5th–12th centuries CE)
In early medieval Scotland and Ireland, written descriptions and artwork show people wearing multicolored woven cloth. Gaelic texts use the word breacan—meaning “many-colored”—to describe such garments. Some archaeological digs at Border castles have produced fragments of checked fabric, showing that patterned weaving was already practiced in medieval Scotland. However, there is no evidence yet of distinct clan tartans.
Late Medieval to Early Modern (14th–17th centuries)
The first physical evidence of true tartan cloth, with multiple dyed stripes and balanced color setts, appears in this era. The Glen Affric tartan, found in a Highland peat bog, has been dated to around 1500–1600 AD and shows at least four colors: green, brown, red, and yellow. Dye analysis confirmed the use of indigo or woad for green.
Earlier fragments such as the Falkirk check are simpler and undyed. Written records from the 1500s mention “tartan coats” and “tartan hose,” and 16th–17th century portraits show patterned plaids. These textiles mark the emergence of true tartan weaving, though the clan-based system would not develop until much later.
For more history of the ancient warp and weft with illustrations, click the artifact.