EARLY COTTON IN NORTH ARABIA

Excavations at the site of Dhuweila in eastern Jordan produced some fr agments of lime plaster with clear impressions of finely woven fabric preserved on one side. Microscopic examination of the plaster showed s mall tufts of fibre from the fabric still adhering to the surface. The fibres have been identified as cotton and radiocarbon dates obtained from the carbon remains of the fabric on the surface of three plaster samples give a date range from 5510 +/- 60-4400 +/- 90 BP (cal Bc 4450 -3000). The dates suggest that the plaster and fabric can be broadly d ated in the Levantine Chalcolithic or Early Bronze Age. The data provi de evidence of an unexpectedly early date for the import of cotton tex tiles to the Near East.