I-Search Post #3- sub topic hemp uses in ancient times

Although there are 25,000 known uses from hemp today people often don't recognize it as anything more than a possible drug and hemp is not utilized as well as it could be. In ancient time however hemp was very important. The most common use for hemp in ancient times was for cloth, In fact hemp was most likely the first plant used for textile fiber. Hemp cloth, dating back to 8000 BC, has been found it places like Mesopotamia giving historians the impression that hemp could be one of the first and best examples of human industry. There is also written records of the Sung dynasty which talk about the Emperor Shen Nung instructing his people to cultivate hemp in order to use its long fibrous bark to make cloth in 500 AD. All throughout the ancient world people cultivated hemp. Hemp was probably cultivated for the longest amount of continuous time in China, but it was well spread throughout the ancient world eventually making it to Europe around 1,200 BC. In China around 150 BC first paper was make entirely from hemp and some of the worlds oldest texts written on paper were written on paper primarily composed of hemp. Hemps medicinal purposes were also recognized in ancient times and the seeds, flowers, leaves and roots were often used. Weather they worked or not was debatable, but hemp was commonly prescribed for things such as child birth, insomnia, and rheumatism. Hemp was also used for food being high in fiber and protein and later do to hemp rope's salt resistant properties and strength hemp rope was often used for sailors. As you can see hemp had many uses throughout the ages and served many important functions in people lives.