Sew me

Natural dye by mollusc.

Gonna get a bit textile geeky just now. This intriguing bit of information came to my attention recently. It was reported on the phys.org website. Some fabric dyed with royal purple dating from 1000 BCE. Wow.
Here’s some information about what they found:
“For the first time, rare evidence has been found of fabric dyed with royal purple dating from the time of King David and King Solomon.
While examining the colored textiles from Timna Valley—an ancient copper production district in southern Israel—in a study that has lasted several years, the researchers were surprised to find remnants of woven fabric, a tassel and fibers of wool dyed with royal purple. Direct radiocarbon dating confirms that the finds date from approximately 1000 BCE, corresponding to the biblical monarchies of David and Solomon in Jerusalem. The dye, which is produced from species of mollusk found in the Mediterranean, over 300 km from Timna, is often mentioned in the Bible and appears in various Jewish and Christian contexts. This is the first time that purple-dyed Iron Age textiles have been found in Israel, or indeed throughout the Southern Levant."

Textures of the wild