Woolworks Curriculum Guide Grades 3-8 Lesson 1: History Of Sheep

First Paragraph of The Chapter

"The story of wool begins long ago, before recorded history. As early as 10,000 years ago, in Central Asia, humans discovered that the animal called "sheep" could give them two of life's essentials: food and a warm covering. At first people clothed themselves in the skins of animals hunted for food. It is thought that early man may have used the soft, woolly side of a wild sheep pelt as foot gear. As the foot gear was worn, the moisture, heat, and friction from walking made the wool "felt" together into a solid mass. It wasn't long before these early people took advantage of this discovery, and began to felt wool together in tunic-like garments, foot gear, and houses called yurts. Soon, they figured out that keeping a sheep alive, breeding it, and cutting off its wool each year would give them the food and clothing that would help them survive, using less energy then hunting. Thus, shepherding was born."