North America

Just-a-note:   I am still available this summer for  guild presentations

 of the history of textiles.  Contact me :    thephotoquilter.com

5,000 BC  :  flax (linum usitatissimum) was domesticated and spread south through Iraq, Syria and Egyptian Nile. To Switzerland and Germany.   North America was actively using Elm and Birch trees at this time.

Elm & Birch: most common trees in North America have an inner layer of bark that can be pulled off in sheets:  strong, flexible and water resistant:  bound around legs as protective chaparreras.   Native American tribes and  other parts of world still use elm and birch as  footwear:  19^th century  canoes  were made from  birch-bark  and grown in both N. America and tropics .   Birch-bark was  used to transport food because it will soften when heated.

  ummmm wouldn't mind floating down river in t-his canoe