Materials · c. 3,500 BCE

Silk

Filament from domesticated silkworms, the fiber of empires.

Silk remains from China date to about 3500 BCE. Sericulture made a strong, fine fiber whose trade gave its name to the Silk Road.

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 2

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

World trade as a share of GDP since 1500 Latest: 1950-now (PWT): 57.8 % of GDP (2023) Source: Our World in Data