From Salamander to the robe of the fire rat. An outline history of the asbestos from Prehistory to the Middle Age
From Salamander to the robe of the fire rat. An outline history of the asbestos from Prehistory to the Middle Age

Summary/Abstract: Asbestos was used in making pottery in a large area of Eurasia, from Scandinavia, Corsica to the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago as well. The earliest traces of using asbestos as pottery temper is dated back to the Neolithic period and in some areas this tradition survived up to the Middle Ages. The ancient Greeks and Romans used asbestos in their cloth, shrouds, candlewicks. However, most archaeological asbestos finds come from funeral context as a cremation robes, sacks or sheets. Analogous situation putting the asbestos textiles in ancient burials is observed in Southeast Asia. In the Ancient China asbestos cloth huo huan pu (cloth cleaned in fire) were associated with the Da Qin (Roman Empire) textile production. The origin of the asbestos fibers, in Western tradition from Early Medieval times identified with salamander or wool of Abraham land. Thus, in East their origin was more complex. Three different provenances proposals have been specified: a) - from the flowers of inflammable trees, b) - from the bark of the said trees and c) from the long hair of certain white rodents which went into the fire without burning. The hair could be plucked and woven. Evidently, the asbestos had a huge success in West and East since Neolithic period until recent past, firstly, due to magic proprieties, secondly, due to fire-retardant effect.

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