History of fabric

The more  I learn the more I know the more fascinated I become. 

Elm & Birch: most common trees in north America have an inner layer of bark that can be pulled off in sheets.  This inner layer is strong, flexible and water resistant.  The native peoples bound  this inner layer around legs as protective chaparreras.    Native American tribes and other countries throughtout the world  still use this layer as footwear.    19^th century:  canoes were made from birch-bark.     North  Americans in the tropics used  birch-bark to carry food and ould  soften when heated.

5,000 BC  :  flax (linum usitatissimum) was domesticated and spread south through Iraq, Syria and Egyptian Nile. To Switzerland and Germany.  

                                             Chaps?  I wonder if they are birch bark or leather...........ummmmm