2500 years old knots - Carpets are made of thousands of knots, patiently made one after one with woollen threads or similar; and the most ancient in the world is more or less 2500 years old.
In 1929 two Russian scientists, Sergej Rudenko
and Mikhail Griaznov, found themselves in front of what would have been
recognized as the most ancient carpet ever found in the world; the two
scientists discovered five tumulus during the excavations in the border
area
between Russia and Mongolia, dating back to the V-VI century B.C.;
inside one
of the five graves, the chief of the tribe’s, there was a carpet that
has been
denominated Pazyryk, discovered under a block of ice: this made the
conservation possible for more than two millenniums and a half.
Luckily, the Pazyryk carpet has not been
discovered by the looters that plundered the graves in the various
époques to
rob them of the treasures that they often contained: had they found it,
it
would probably have been lost, or, anyway, it would not have arrived
till our
times conserved like it is thanks to its lucky conservation under the
block of
ice. This carpet measures 200x182 cm, and each square meter has 360
thousand
turkibaft knots (the typical ones of the Turkish area). The drawing has a
central area with a border formed of various frames; while the central
drawing
is geometrical, the frames represent elks, horsemen and gryphon.
The fact of having found such an ancient carpet
demonstrates that the use of carpets dates back to ancient times and,
most of
all, it demonstrate that the capability of knotting elaborated carpets
had been
already acquired in those times, and from hence it has been transmitted
and
improved; the same scientist that found the Pazyryk carpet, Rudenko,
some years
after the first great archaeological find discovered another carpet,
about in
the same area, with an even finer work: its knots were 700 thousand for
each
square meter.
There are different kinds of carpets you can
find in commerce nowadays; the most valuable are the ancient ones, of
course, and
their origin are mostly in the areas of Turkey, Iran, Morocco, China or
Caucasus, and they obviously are unique pieces, handworks made with
techniques
that vary depending on the area and the period. The kilim carpets, for
example,
origin in the area between Caucasus and Iran, and are characterized by
geometrical drawings realized using the coloured threads of the texture;
the
kilim carpets, diversely from the knotted ones, are formed by weaved
threads
that originate a drape with an even surface, its thickness depending on
the
threads used.
The knotted carpets, instead, are made of three
layers: the fleece, that is the most superficial layer, is formed by
short
woollen threads, knotted on the warp, the second layer, formed by
parallel threads
disposed vertically. The last thread is the texture: this is made of the
cotton
threads disposed among the various rows of knots. The knotting work is
meticulous, precise and for it manual skills and much patience are
needed; but
the result obtained is durable and is a fine quality work.
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