The Oldest Example of a Prestigious Red Dye Was Found in a Rare 3,800-Year-Old Textile

With waxy coverings and no limbs, female scale insects known as kermes vermilio are small parasites that attach themselves to oak plants to feed on sap. Native to the Mediterranean, the critters also produce a red dye that has been used since antiquity, the oldest example of which was recently found in a tiny woven textile.

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