View source for History of hide materials

{{Infobox
| title            = Hide processing in human history
| image            = [[File:Permennter-1568.png|200px|alt=A German parchmenter during the 16th century]]
| caption          = A German parchmenter at work c. 1568. The use of animal hides for writing materials like parchment was a key development.
| headerstyle      = background-color:#B0C4DE;
| labelstyle       = background-color:#B0C4DE;
| header1          = Key developments
| label2           = Prehistoric
| data2            = [[Rawhide (textile)|Rawhide]], [[Tanning (leather)|Tanning]], [[Fur clothing]]
| label3           = Ancient
| data3            = [[Parchment]], [[Vellum]], Systematic [[Tanning (leather)|Tanning]]
| label4           = Medieval
| data4            = [[Guild]] systems, [[Shoe#Middle Ages and Early Modern period|Welt shoes]], [[Suede]]
| label5           = Modern
| data5            = [[Patent leather]], [[Leather|chromium tanning]], [[synthetic leather]]
| header6          = Related fields
| label7           = Social sciences
| data7            = * [[Anthropology]]
* [[Archaeology]]
* [[Economic history]]
* [[Environmental history]]
| label8           = Technology & Industry
| data8            = * [[Animal husbandry]]
* [[Chemical engineering]]
* [[History of technology]]
* [[Industrial Revolution]]
| label9           = Cultural practices
| data9            = * [[History of clothing and textiles|Clothing]]
* [[Bookbinding]]
* [[Writing]]
* [[Saddlery]]
}}
{{AFI}}
{{Short description|Development of animal-hide processing throughout human history}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2023}}
Humanity has used [[hide (skin)|animal hides]] since the [[Paleolithic]] (beginning approximately 400,000 years ago)<ref name="Gilligan">{{cite journal |last1=Gilligan |first1=Ian |date=March 2010 |title=The Prehistoric Development of Clothing: Archaeological Implications of a Thermal Model |jstor=25653129 |journal=Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=15–80 |doi=10.1007/s10816-009-9076-x |s2cid=143004288 }}</ref> for [[clothing]], mobile shelters such as [[tipi]]s and [[wigwam]]s, and household items. Since [[ancient times]], hides have also been used as a [[writing]] medium in the form of [[parchment]].

[[Fur clothing]] was used by other [[hominids]] (at least the [[Neanderthals]]), although their use was probably limited to rudimentary capes based on thermal-modeling<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Collard |first1=Mark |last2=Tarle |first2=Lia |last3=Sandgathe |first3=Dennis |last4=Allan |first4=Alexander |date=1 December 2016 |title=Faunal evidence for a difference in clothing use between Neanderthals and early modern humans in Europe |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0278416516300757 |journal=Journal of Anthropological Archaeology |volume=44 |pages=235–246 |doi=10.1016/j.jaa.2016.07.010 |issn=0278-4165 |archive-date=19 May 2025 |access-date=21 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250519203252/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0278416516300757 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> studies that indicate the necessity of additional insulation for survival in glacial climates.<ref name="Gilligan"/> [[Rawhide (material)|Rawhide]] is a simple hide product which stiffens. Formerly used for binding pieces of wood together, it is primarily found in [[drum skin]]s.

[[Tanning (leather)|Tanning]] of hides to manufacture [[leather]] was invented during the [[Paleolithic]], with the earliest evidence of hide-processing tools found at [[Hoxne]] in England<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wymer |first=John |title=THE LOWER PALAEOLITHIC SITE AT HOXNE |url=https://suffolkinstitute.pdfsrv.co.uk/customers/Suffolk%20Institute/2014/01/10/Volume%20XXXV%20Part%203%20(1983)_The%20Lower%20Palaeolithic%20site%20at%20Hoxne%20J%20J%20Wymer_169%20to%20189.pdf#:~:text=for%20most%20of%20the%20year,skin%20for%20protective%20clothing%20or%2Croofing |website=Suffolk Institute}}</ref> and [[Qesem cave]], Israel, dating to about 400,000 years ago.<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last= Keeley |first= L. H. |date=1980 |title=Experimental determination of stone tool uses: A microwear analysis |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |pages=128–151 |isbn=0-226-42889-3 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gilligan |first1=Ian |last2=d'Errico |first2=Francesco |last3=Doyon |first3=Luc |last4=Wang |first4=Wei |last5=Kuzmin |first5=Yaroslav V. |date=28 June 2024 |title=Paleolithic eyed needles and the evolution of dress |journal=Science Advances |volume=10 |issue=26 |pages=eadp2887 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.adp2887 |issn=2375-2548 |pmc=11212769 |pmid=38941472 |bibcode=2024SciA...10P2887G }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Best Dressed Hominin Clothing, Tanning, and Textile Production in the Paleolithic |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377359924 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250621123531/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377359924_The_Best_Dressed_Hominin_Clothing_Tanning_and_Textile_Production_in_the_Paleolithic |archive-date=21 June 2025 |access-date=28 July 2025 |website=ResearchGate |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref> 

[[Parchment]] for writing was introduced during the [[Bronze Age]], and was later refined into [[vellum]] before [[paper]] became common.<ref name="LucasHarris">{{cite book |last1=Lucas |first1=A. |last2=Harris |first2=J. |date=2012 |title=Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries |publisher=Dover Publications |isbn=978-0-486-14494-8 |pages=26–42}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=29 December 2022 |title=The History Of Vellum And Parchment {{!}} The New Antiquarian {{!}} The Blog of The Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America |url=https://www.abaa.org/blog/post/the-history-of-vellum-and-parchment |access-date=28 July 2025 |website=www.abaa.org |language=en |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326023304/https://www.abaa.org/blog/post/the-history-of-vellum-and-parchment |url-status=live }}</ref>

==<span class="anchor" id="Prehistoric and Ancient use"></span>Prehistoric and ancient use==
[[File:Chalcolithic leather shoe from Areni-1 cave.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|alt=Several photos of a shoe|A leather shoe, discovered at Areni-1 cave in Armenia and dating to approximately 3,500 BCE<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pinhasi |first1=Ron |last2=Gasparian |first2=Boris |last3=Areshian |first3=Gregory |last4=Zardaryan |first4=Diana |last5=Smith |first5=Alexia |last6=Bar-Oz |first6=Guy |last7=Higham |first7=Thomas |date=9 June 2010 |title=First Direct Evidence of Chalcolithic Footwear from the Near Eastern Highlands |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=5 |issue=6 |pages=e10984 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0010984 |pmid=20543959 |pmc=2882957 |bibcode=2010PLoSO...510984P |doi-access=free }}</ref>]]
[[File:Permennter-1568.png|thumb|upright=0.7|alt=Etching of a man making parchment|A 16th-century German parchment-maker]]

The [[Australian National University]]'s Ian Gilligan wrote that hominids without fur would have needed leather clothing to survive outside the tropics in mid-latitude Eurasia, southern Africa and the Levant during the cold glacial and [[Stadial and interstadial|stadial]] periods of the Ice Age, and there is archaeological evidence for the use of hide and leather in the Paleolithic.<ref name="Gilligan"/> Simple, unmodified stone flakes could have been used to scrape hides for tanning, but scraper tools are more specialized for tasks such as woodworking and [[hideworking]].<ref name="Gilligan"/>{{rp|19–20, 37}} Both of these stone-tool shapes were invented in the [[Oldowan]],<ref name="Human Past">{{cite book |editor1-last=Scarre |editor1-first=Chris |title=The Human Past |year=2005 |location=London |publisher=Thames and Hudson Ltd. |publication-date=2005 |isbn=978-0-500-28531-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/humanpastworldpr0000unse }}</ref>{{rp|61, 66–67}} but direct evidence for hideworking has not been found before about 400,000 years ago. Examination of microscopic use-wear on scrapers demonstrates they were used to prepare hides at that time at Hoxne in England.<ref name="auto"/>

The earliest known bone awls date to 84,000 to 72,000 years ago in South Africa, and their use-wear shows that they were probably used to pierce soft materials such as tanned leather.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Henshilwoood |first1=C. S. |last2=d'Errico |first2=F. |last3=Marean |first3=C. W. |last4=Milo |first4=R. G. |last5=Yates |first5=R. |date=2001 |title=An early bone tool industry from the Middle Stone Age at Blombos Cave, South Africa: Implications for the origins of modern human behaviour, symbolism and language |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |volume=41 |issue=6 |page=662 |doi=10.1006/jhev.2001.0515 |pmid=11782112 |bibcode=2001JHumE..41..631H }}</ref> Bone awls were later made in the [[Aurignacian]] in Europe, west Asia and Russia, and in Tasmania during the [[Last Glacial Maximum]].<ref name="Gilligan" />{{rp|50–51, 44–45}}<ref name="Human Past" />{{rp|157–158}} The earliest eyed [[sewing needle]]s date to 43,000 to 28,500 years ago (probably at least 35,000 years ago) in southern Siberia, and were used across Paleolithic Eurasia and in North America.<ref name="Gilligan" />{{rp|49}} Paleolithic hunters are also known to have targeted fur-bearing animals such as wolves and arctic foxes in Europe, snow leopards in Central Asia, mole-rats in Africa, and red-necked wallabies in Tasmania.<ref name="Gilligan" />{{rp|45–48}}

As [[animal husbandry]] was introduced during the [[Neolithic]], human communities had a steady source of hides. The oldest confirmed leather-tanning tools were found in ancient [[Sumer]] and date to approximately 5000&nbsp;BCE.<ref>{{cite news |title="السومرية"... أقدم حضارات العالم |url=https://www.arab48.com/%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8-48/%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8-48/2016/07/12/-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9--%D8%A3%D9%82%D8%AF%D9%85-%D8%AD%D8%B6%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85 |access-date=20 June 2018 |language=ar |work=عرب 48 |date=12 July 2016 |archive-date=14 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114125758/https://www.arab48.com/%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8-48/%D9%85%D8%AC%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8-48/2016/07/12/-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9--%D8%A3%D9%82%D8%AF%D9%85-%D8%AD%D8%B6%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85 |url-status=live }}</ref> The oldest surviving piece of leather footwear is the [[Areni-1 shoe]] which was made in [[Armenia]] around 3500&nbsp;BCE. Another (possibly older) piece of leather was found in [[Guitarrero Cave]] in northern Peru, dating to the [[Archaic Period (Americas)|Archaic]] period.<ref name="Human Past" />{{rp|340}}

Archaeologists have discovered evidence of tanned and treated animal skins in [[Badarian culture|Badarian]] and pre-dynastic Egyptian graves.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Lucas |first1=A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wWHvAgAAQBAJ&dq=ancient+egypt+leather&pg=PA35 |title=Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries |last2=Harris |first2=J. |publisher=Dover Publications |year=2012 |location=Mineola, New York|isbn=978-0-486-14494-8 }}</ref>{{Rp|page=33}} Artistic depictions of leather-working appear in tombs as early as the Fifth Dynasty.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|pages=34–35}} The archaeological record of the Nile Valley provides examples of the development of methods of tanning and treating hides and skins which include drying, smoke- and salt-curing, and softening with fat, urine, dung, brain, and oils.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=34}}

==Medieval use==
[[File:Sattler polsterer 1827.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|alt=A seated, smiling craftsman|Medieval leather-working techniques persist; [[saddlery]] and [[upholstery]] are examples.]]
During the [[Middle Ages]], leather-craft developed through organized [[guild]] systems which standardized production methods and quality control across Europe. Archaeological excavations at sites such as [[Norwich]], [[Dublin]] and [[York]] have revealed evidence of specialized tanning quarters with organized workshops, indicating the establishment of dedicated industrial areas for hide processing.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gromer |first1=Karina |last2=Russ-Popa |first2=Gabriela |last3=Saliari |first3=Konstantina |date=2017 |title=Products of animal skin from Antiquity to the Medieval Period |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26342924 |journal=Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. Serie A für Mineralogie und Petrographie, Geologie und Paläontologie, Anthropologie und Prähistorie |volume=119 |pages=69–93 |jstor=26342924 |issn=0255-0091}}</ref>

The medieval tanning process was labor-intensive and time-consuming, typically requiring 12 to 18 months to complete. The process involved multiple stages: initial hide preparation through soaking and hair removal, treatment with lime solutions, and gradual tanning using oak-bark extracts in increasingly-concentrated solutions. This vegetable-tanning method produced durable leather suitable for a number of applications including footwear, armor, book bindings, and household items.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yeomans |first1=Lisa |date=2007 |title=The shifting use of animal carcasses in medieval and post-medieval London |journal=Breaking and Shaping Beastly Bodies: Animals as Material Culture in the Middle Ages |pages=98–115 |publisher=Oxbow Books}}</ref>

Specialized leather products were developed during this period which included [[Shoe#Middle Ages and Early Modern period|welt shoes]] and [[turnshoes]], representing advances in footwear construction. Refined-leather types such as [[suede]] and [[nubuck]] were also introduced, demonstrating the increasing sophistication of medieval leather-working techniques.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Harjula |first1=Janne |last2=Hansen |first2=Gitte |last3=Ashby |first3=Steven P. |last4=Baug |first4=Irene |date=2015 |title=Tracing the nameless actors. Leatherworking and production of leather artefacts in the town of Turku and Turku Castle, SW Finland |journal=Everyday Products in the Middle Ages: Crafts, Consumption and the Individual in Northern Europe |pages=185–203 |publisher=Oxbow Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ma |first1=Jianzhong |last2=Lv |first2=Xiujuan |last3=Gao |first3=Dangge |last4=Li |first4=Yun |last5=Lv |first5=Bin |last6=Zhang |first6=Jing |date=1 June 2014 |title=Nanocomposite-based green tanning process of suede leather to enhance chromium uptake |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652614002376 |journal=Journal of Cleaner Production |volume=72 |pages=120–126 |doi=10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.03.016 |bibcode=2014JCPro..72..120M |issn=0959-6526|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Modern use==

The [[Industrial Revolution]] brought fundamental changes to leather production through mechanization and chemical innovation. Steam-powered machinery replaced manual labor for many processes, and new chemical treatments increased the efficiency of tanning methods. [[Patent leather]] production began in 1793<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/sim_bee-or-literary-weekly-intelligencer_1793-10-23_17 |title=The Bee, or Literary Weekly Intelligencer 1793-10-23: Vol 17 |date=23 October 1793 |publisher=Open Court Publishing Co |others=Internet Archive |language=English}}</ref> and was commercialized in the United States by 1819, based on an adaptation of European production methods.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tuttle |first=Brad R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z5oWapZqV5kC&dq=Boyden+never+patented+it+or+many+of+his+other+inventions.&pg=PA27 |title=How Newark Became Newark: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of an American City |date=16 February 2009 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-0-8135-4656-8 |pages=27 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Nriagu |first1=Jerome O. |title=Chromium in the natural and human environments |last2=Nieboer |first2=Evert |date=1988 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-471-85643-6 |pages=251–278}}</ref>

A major advancement in hide processing occurred in 1858<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sreeram |first1=K. J |last2=Ramasami |first2=T |date=1 June 2003 |title=Sustaining tanning process through conservation, recovery and better utilization of chromium |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344902001519 |journal=Resources, Conservation and Recycling |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=185–212 |doi=10.1016/S0921-3449(02)00151-9 |bibcode=2003RCR....38..185S |issn=0921-3449|url-access=subscription }}</ref> with the invention of chromium tanning by German technologist [[Friedrich Ludwig Knapp|Friedrich Knapp]] and Swedish scientist [[Carl Erengisle Hyltén-Cavallius|Carl Hyltén-Cavallius]]; American chemist Augustus Schultz first [[Patent|patented]] the process using alkaline [[chromium(III) sulfate]] as the tanning agent.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Leather & Hide |url=https://flowerhill.institute/value-of-byproducts/leather-and-hide |access-date=28 July 2025 |website=Flower Hill Institute |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Redwood |first=Michael |date=5 May 2021 |title=The role of a single actor in technical innovation and network evolution: An historical analysis of the leather network |url=https://www.academia.edu/48616503 |journal=Journal of Customer Behaviour |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=181–196 |doi=10.1362/147539212X13420906144750}}</ref> This process reduced tanning time from months to days and produced leather with different properties than traditional vegetable tanning, including increased water resistance and flexibility.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gao |first1=Dangge |last2=Ma |first2=Jianzhong |last3=Lv |first3=Bin |last4=Zhang |first4=Jing |date=2013 |title=Collagen modification using nanotechnologies: a review |journal=Journal of the American Leather Chemists Association |volume=108 |issue=10 |pages=355–365}}</ref> By the 20th century, chromium tanning accounted for approximately 85% of all leather manufacturing.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sundar |first1=Victor John |last2=Muralidharan |first2=Chellappa |last3=Mandal |first3=Asit Baran |date=15 November 2013 |title=A novel chrome tanning process for minimization of total dissolved solids and chromium in effluents |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652613004563 |journal=Journal of Cleaner Production |volume=59 |pages=239–244 |doi=10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.07.002 |bibcode=2013JCPro..59..239S |issn=0959-6526|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Satish Kumar |first=Yogesh Kumar |date=1 January 2021 |title=Economic Sustainability Analysis of Natural Leather Industry, And Its Alternative Advancements |url=https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/etdr/1203 |journal=Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports |doi=10.37099/mtu.dc.etdr/1203|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Contemporary leather production employs traditional vegetable tanning and modern chromium processes, with increased attention to [[Sustainability|environmental sustainability]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bacardit |first1=Anna |last2=Combalia |first2=Felip |last3=Font |first3=Joaquim |last4=Baquero |first4=Grau |date=2 March 2020 |title=Comparison of the Sustainability of the Vegetable, Wet-White and Chromium Tanning Processes through the Life Cycle Analysis |url=https://journals.uc.edu/index.php/JALCA/article/view/1628 |journal=Journal of the American Leather Chemists Association |language=en |volume=115 |issue=3 |pages=105–111 |doi=10.34314/jalca.v115i03.1628 |issn=0002-9726|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ferraris |first1=Sara |last2=Gamna |first2=Francesca |last3=Luxbacher |first3=Thomas |last4=Maculotti |first4=Giacomo |last5=Giorio |first5=Lorenzo |last6=Kholkhujaev |first6=Jasurkhuja |last7=Genta |first7=Gianfranco |last8=Galetto |first8=Maurizio |last9=Sarnataro |first9=Andrea |last10=Nogarole |first10=Marco |last11=Florio |first11=Claudia |date=27 March 2025 |title=Comparative characterization of leather from different tanning processes as a contribution for a sustainable development of the leather industry |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=10608 |doi=10.1038/s41598-025-94531-y |pmid=40148412 |pmc=11950221 |bibcode=2025NatSR..1510608F |issn=2045-2322}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Xiao |first1=Yuanhang |last2=Zhou |first2=Jiajing |last3=Wang |first3=Chunhua |last4=Zhang |first4=Jinwei |last5=Radnaeva |first5=Vera D. |last6=Lin |first6=Wei |date=5 January 2023 |title=Sustainable metal-free leather manufacture via synergistic effects of triazine derivative and vegetable tannins |journal=Collagen and Leather |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=2 |doi=10.1186/s42825-022-00108-0 |doi-access=free |issn=2731-6998}}</ref> Alternative tanning methods using synthetic materials and plant-based chemicals have been developed to address environmental concerns associated with chromium processing.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Teklemedhin |first1=Taame Berhanu |last2=Gebretsadik |first2=Tesfamariam Tekle |last3=Gebrehiwet |first3=Tesfu Berhane |last4=Gebrekidan |first4=Gebrehiwot Asfaha |last5=Edris |first5=Mahamedbirhan |last6=Teklegiorgis |first6=Negasi Teklay |last7=Hagos |first7=Kokeb Brhane |date=2023 |title=Vegetable Tannins as Chrome-Free Leather Tanning |journal=Advances in Materials Science and Engineering |language=en |volume=2023 |issue=1 |pages=6220778 |doi=10.1155/2023/6220778 |doi-access=free |issn=1687-8442}}</ref> Modern leather has applications in the automotive, fashion, furniture, and specialty industries, with quality standards and production methods regulated by international organizations.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Rolence |first=Cecilia |title=An eco-friendly tanning method using plant barks and their combination with aluminium sulphate from kaolin for leather industry |date=1 February 2021 |degree=Thesis |publisher=NM-AIST |url=https://dspace.nm-aist.ac.tz/handle/20.500.12479/1308 |language=en |archive-date=4 May 2025 |access-date=28 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250504175257/http://dspace.nm-aist.ac.tz/handle/20.500.12479/1308 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Page |first=Campbell |title=IULTCS methods of analysis for leather, including equivalent ISO and EN Standards |url=https://iultcs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IULTCS-ISO-EN_Leather_test_methods_2024-April.pdf |website=International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies IULTCS}}</ref> Several kinds of [[synthetic leather]] have been developed during the 20th and 21st centuries as alternatives to animal-derived materials, driven by cost considerations, ethical concerns, and performance requirements in specific applications.

<gallery mode=packed heights=200px>
Industries of War - Scabbards - Dieing leather for scabbards - NARA - 45489427.jpg|Industrial leather dyeing during [[World War I]], showing mechanized production methods|alt=Eight people in a workshop
Tanner at work, Medina of Marrakesh.jpg|alt=A man working outdoors, with a bicycle and a white cat|Traditional tanning methods continue in some regions, as evidenced by this tanner in [[Marrakesh]].
</gallery>

==See also==
{{div col}}
* [[Boiled leather]]
* [[Bota bag]]
* [[Buckskin (leather)|Buckskin]]
* [[Colambre]]
* [[Goatskin (material)]]
* [[History of clothing and textiles]]
* [[Parfleche]]
* [[Plains hide painting]]
* [[Waterskin]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Scarre |editor1-first=Chris |title=The Human Past |year=2005 |location=London |publisher=Thames and Hudson Ltd. |publication-date=2005 |isbn=978-0-500-28531-2 |ref=Human Past |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/humanpastworldpr0000unse }}

{{Prehistoric technology}}

[[Category:Hides (skin)]]
[[Category:Environmental history|hide]]
[[Category:Clothing and the environment]]
[[Category:History of clothing]]
[[Category:History of fashion]]