Читать книгу Nature's Evil - Alexander Etkind - Страница 33

After fire and stone, fur was the third item essential to the survival of early man in the chilly climes of Europe. Even without curing, the warm pelts of wolves, bison, deer and sheep were used as bedding, blankets or parts of a shelter. Skins could be cut with an obsidian blade and sewn together with a bone needle and dried sinews to make garments and shoes. Thanks to these items, people could move deeper into the northern forests, and there they found more fur-bearing animals. Centuries passed and Roman soldiers marvelled at the fur garments of the Germanic barbarians. But the Romans also started to wear fur as they moved north. Gradually fur became a commodity – a source of revenue and a convertible currency in the northern lands.