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The history of cotton can be traced back to domestication, possibly as far back as 4500 BC. Cotton played an important role in the history of the British Empire, the United States, and India, and continues to be an important crop and commodity. The history of the domestication of cotton is very complex and is not known exactly. Several isolated civilizations in both the Old and New World independently domesticated and converted cotton into fabric. All the same tools were invented, including combs, bows, hand spindles, and primitive looms. The oldest cotton textiles were found in graves and city ruins of civilizations from dry climates, where the fabrics did not decay completely. Some of the oldest cotton bolls were discovered in a cave in Tehuacán Valley, Mexico, and were dated to approximately 5500 BCE, but more recent estimates have put the age of these bolls at approximately 3600 BCE. Seeds and cordage dating to about 450BCE have been found in Peru. There is reliable genetic evidence that cotton originated in Peru. At the source of any plant—in this case wild cotton, the genetic variability is enormously greater and one area of wild cotton in Peru constitutes a "smoking gun.".〔〔Lecture by Dr. Fryxell, of the Department of Agriculture and Texas A&M University, 1980.〕 The Indus Valley civilization started cultivating cotton by 5th or 4th century BCE. By 3000 BCE cotton was being grown and processed in Mexico, and Arizona. Pre-Incan cotton grave cloths were found in Huaca Prieta in Peru, and date back to 2500 BCE, and cotton was mentioned in Hindu hymns in 1500 BCE. Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian, mentions Indian cotton in the 5th century BCE as "a wool exceeding in beauty and goodness that of sheep." When Alexander the Great invaded India, his troops started wearing cotton clothes that were more comfortable than their previous woolen ones. Strabo, another Greek historian, mentioned the vividness of Indian fabrics, and Aryan told of Indian–Arab trade of cotton fabrics in 130 CE. Egyptians grew and spun cotton from 6–700 CE.〔 In the 8th century the Muslim conquest of Spain expanded the European cotton trade. By the 15th century, Venice, Antwerp, and Haarlem were important ports for cotton trade, and the sale and transportation of cotton fabrics had become very profitable.〔 ==Middle Ages and the Modern Era== Cotton was a common fabric during the Middle Ages, and was hand-woven on a loom. Cotton manufacture was introduced to Europe during the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula and Sicily. The knowledge of cotton weaving was spread to northern Italy in the 12th century, when Sicily was conquered by the Normans, and consequently to the rest of Europe. The spinning wheel, introduced to Europe circa 1350, improved the speed of cotton spinning. Christopher Columbus, in his explorations of the Bahamas and Cuba, found natives wearing cotton ("the costliest and handsomest... cotton mantles and sleeveless shirts embroidered and painted in different designs and colours"), a fact that may have contributed to his incorrect belief that he had landed on the coast of India.〔 Cotton cloth started to become highly sought-after for the European urban markets during the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer, opened Asian sea trade, which replaced caravans and allowed for heavier cargo. Indian craftspeople had long protected the secret of how to create colourful patterns. However, some converted to Christianity and their secret was revealed by a French Catholic priest, Father Coeurdoux. He revealed the process of creating the fabrics in France, which assisted the European textile industry. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「history of cotton」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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