In westernmost China, in the Tarim Basin, extreme aridity preserved clothes and equipment made of organic material from a remote past. Chinese archaeologists discovered in 2003 near the city of Turfan a tomb where a man dressed in trousers and a poncho, boots and bands, was put to rest 3000 years ago. An international team of scientists comprising archaeologists, fashion designers, geoscientists, chemists and conservators worked five years to decode age, material and construction of the Turfan man’s outfit, as well as the environmental conditions during his lifetime.
To test their hypotheses they reproduced the trousers as true as possible to the original.
The scientists advanced into an unexplored area of clothing and fashion history. Because with these oldest known preserved trousers of the world, nothing is as they expected it to be.
This 46-min film presents the adventures of the researchers, the obstacles they encountered and the discoveries they made during their search for answers.
Wagner, M., Tarasov, P.E. (2018) Die Erfindung der Hose. Buch und Film. Nünnerich-Asmus Verlag & Media, Mainz-am-Rhein, 159 S. und 46-minutige DVD, Audio: Deutsch, Englisch, Russisch. na.verlags-shop.de/home/240-d...
Mehr zum Projekt:
www.dainst.org/projekt/-/project-display/56627
www.dainst.blog/bridging-eurasia