17 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

World’s Oldest Pants was Made through Three Weaving Techniques

Back in 2014, a group of archaeologists discovered in China a pair of wool pants dating back to around 3,300 years ago – the oldest one ever found. The wool garment found in China was made between 3,000 and 3,300 years ago.

Now a team, which includes archaeologists and fashion designers, have studied them and discovered they used several innovative textile-making techniques which are still used on trousers today.

A team of archaeologists excavating graves at an ancient burial place in the Xinjiang Uighur area of western China discovered the trousers. The cemetery is located on the outskirts of the Taklamakan desert, adjacent to the Turfan oasis, which was a common halting point for Bronze Age nomads and afterward for Silk Route merchants.

The very dry climate in the area preserved the bodies and the grave in a very good condition, including items like food and clothing. The pants were found in the remains of two warriors about forty years old. They were created for horse-riding, which shows in the design. They have straight-fitting legs and a wide crotch with elegant decoration.

A special process, called radiocarbon dating, showed the clothes were made between the thirteenth and tenth centuries BC, making them the oldest known trousers in the world.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



The researchers even reproduced the trousers and the rest of the outfit worn by the horseman to study it further.
The researchers even reproduced the trousers and the rest of the outfit worn by the horseman to study it further. Photo: M.WAGNER/ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN ASIA

The team led by Mayke Wagner of the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin have found three different textile techniques were used on the one garment.

Initially, the researchers were puzzled over how the pants had been made, as there were no traces of cutting on the fabric. However, after a close examination, they discovered that a combination of three weaving techniques was used to manufacture them. This was later confirmed by the re-created version of the pants, made by an expert weaver.

The study also revealed that much of the garment consisted of twill, a versatile fabric weave that is featured in most modern jeans. There were also other innovations in the pants. On the knee section, a technique currently known as tapestry weaving was used to produce a more protective fabric at these joints. On the waist, a method approach was used to have a thicker waistband. A twining method was also used to create a decorative, geometric pattern across the knees and at the ankles and calves.

Jeans are still made today using the same procedures that were utilized three millennia ago. The fact that ancient herding communities’ cultural practices and knowledge extended across Asia is also impressive. The patterns used to embellish the horseman’s pants also appear on bronze vessels dating from the same period in China.

According to the study published in Science Direct, researchers claim that the decorative patterns on the garment reflected influences from different societies across Eurasia.

The findings behind the pants were published in the journal Quaternary International.

Related Articles

Ancient Yayoi Period Settlement Discovered on Tokyo Condo Development Site

10 December 2023

10 December 2023

Excavations at the former site of the British Embassy in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward have uncovered the remains of a Yayoi...

Drought accelerated Hittite Empire’s collapse

9 February 2023

9 February 2023

Researchers have offered new insight into the abrupt collapse of the  Hittite Empire in the Late Bronze Age, with an...

An inscription containing the Turk name was discovered for the first time in Anatolia

3 September 2022

3 September 2022

For the first time in the pre-Islamic Early period Turkish history, an inscription bearing the inscription expression “Turk” and written...

Egypt’s Tanis bronze figurines shed light on ancient commerce

19 July 2021

19 July 2021

A research team told that the newly discovered 3,000-year-old bronze figurines recently unearthed in Tanis, Egypt, can answer questions about...

A ‘very rare’ clay figurine of god Mercury and a previously unknown Roman settlement were discovered at the excavation site in Kent

23 February 2024

23 February 2024

At a previously unknown Roman settlement that was formerly next to a busy port but is now 10 miles from...

An Outstanding Discovery Sheds Light on African Prehistory: 9,000-Year-Old Workshop Unearthed in Senegal

9 September 2025

9 September 2025

Senegal’s Falémé Valley has revealed one of West Africa’s best-preserved prehistoric sites, offering unprecedented insight into the last hunter-gatherers of...

Researchers may have found the wreck of British explorer James Cook’s Endeavour

3 February 2022

3 February 2022

The wreck of Captain James Cook’s famed vessel the Endeavour has been found off the coast of the U.S. state...

A well-preserved lion mosaic discovered in the Ancient City of Prusias ad Hypium

16 November 2023

16 November 2023

Archaeologists found a lion mosaic during excavations carried out in the Ancient City of Prusias ad Hypium. Excavations have been...

Infinite Embrace: New research sheds light on Bronze Age family relationships that link Britain to Luxembourg

30 January 2024

30 January 2024

A new study of early Bronze Age examples from Luxembourg and Britain, led by researchers from the universities of Mainz...

AI Uncovers Lost Babylonian Hymn After 3,000 Years — A Glorious Ode to the Ancient City

3 July 2025

3 July 2025

Archaeologists and AI experts uncover a 3,000-year-old hymn praising Babylon‘s grandeur, revealing rare insights into ancient urban society, education, and...

Archaeologists have unearthed a trove of artifacts at the necropolis of Saqqara

9 June 2022

9 June 2022

Archaeologists at the necropolis of Saqqara, near Cairo, have discovered a cache of 250 complete mummies in painted wooden sarcophagi...

The Latest Surprises Revealed by Investigations Inside the Tomb of Cerberus in Giugliano

24 July 2024

24 July 2024

The latest surprise revealed by investigations at the Tomb of Cerberus in Giugliano: The remains of a corpse covered with...

Two Altars Used for Blood Sacrifices and Divinations Discovered in the Ancient Thracian City of Perperikon

14 September 2024

14 September 2024

In the ancient Thracian city of Perperikon, partly carved into the rock in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains of Bulgaria, two...

Ancient Babylon Excavation Uncovers 478 Artifacts Including Cuneiform Tablets, and Cylindrical Seals

16 October 2024

16 October 2024

The Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) announced that 478 artifacts were uncovered during an excavation expedition in...

6,000 years old Underwater Ruins Discovered off Cuba: A Lost City Older Than the Pyramids — Or Be a Geological Oddity?

10 August 2025

10 August 2025

Recently, a mysterious discovery has resurfaced on social media, reigniting debates and curiosity worldwide: the so-called “lost city” said to...