On The Origin Of Knot

The thesis mainly discusses about the origin of “knot”,as well as the relationship among the knot,the rope and the braiding.At the same time,deduced the form and time of the origin of the knot had been by using trace of archaeological method.According to the function,the knot can be divided into three types: the tool knot,the symbol knot,and the decorative knot.the opportunity of the origin of the three types,as well as the sequence and the evolution also have been discussed.Based on the difference among knot,rope and braiding in materials,forming and function,it indicates that they are independent of each other.Stone and bone tools exist longer life than textiles.Therefore,they can be found in larger quantities in archaeological relics and can be traced back to far earlier than the textiles.Since the existence time of textiles is very short,the number of textiles can be found less,indicating that the far the time is trace back to,the less they exist,even did not exist.The knot appears earlier than its existence,thus it is invalid only based on the physical object.The earliest knot were called as “soft tools”,so the manufacture and usage of knot should be easier than “hard tools”,such as the stone,bone.So its origin should be much earlier than the real objects of knot.Thus,the textual research on the origin of knot must rely on trace.Knot emerged in early Paleolithic period and was widely used in the late Paleolithic and Neolithic periods have been demonstrated by using the method of traces of archaeology and on the basis of the real object of knots and the trace of knots on records,carved symbols,decorative patterns and prints on pottery,cliff paintings and composite tools.The stone tools can be divided into hand holding and non-hand holding.Non-hand holding stone tool must be a composite tool,it is directly held by rope and knot instead of hand,so it is more efficient.Therefore,the emergence of composite tools is a symbol of the birth of a new tool.And the knot is the most important mechanism and tool of composite tools.According to the time sequence of the real object of knots and the trace of knots the period of the origin of the tool knot,the symbol knot,and the decorative knot have been demonstrated,namely: the tool knot originated in early Paleolithic Period,the symbol knot originated in the late Paleolithic Period,decorative knot originated in the late Neolithic Period.Knot originated in hunting tools,and then developed into symbol knot,and then decorative knot based on respective intrinsic attributes,as well as,the food demand which is the first survival demand for primitives.There are different views on the history relationship among knot,rope and braiding in the academic circle.Mainstream and traditional views agree that: “rope before knot;braiding before knot”.The reason is that to make knots needs ropes and there are braiding characteristic in knots.Based on this,the independence of knot in emergence and development has been proved.The formation and the transformation process of old and new knot tool have been deduced by taking bunches of grass and long and thin object as examples,the difference is that whether it forms a self-locking structure.The rope and braiding also can be divided into old and new tools,called as old and new twisting tools and braiding tools.Knot,rope and braid are different among materials,forming methods and structural characteristics,they are three different “tools” in functions and forms.The structural form of conversion,difficulty and speed are different among them.The new knot tool emerged 500 thousand years ago,it is almost synchronized with braiding and earlier than twisted rope.So they are independent in function and time.The more complex the knot,the longer rope would needs.However,it cannot reverse the fact that a rope must rely on the knot or braiding if it could play an effective role.There are no causal relationship between them.To sum up,the knot as a tool origin is more reasonable,and it had appeared in the middle of the Paleolithic period had appeared.The emergence and development of knot is independent of rope and braiding.