Abstract: This paper examined the structures and properties of archaeological cotton fibers-Gossypium herbaceum- dated back 845±40 years BP, unearthed from Yingpan in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China. Modern cotton fibers -Gossypium herbaceum were selected for comparison with the unearthed variety, and various approaches were used for the investigation, such as the optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), infrared (IR) spectra and X-ray diffraction (XRD). So as to establishes a more-detailed data record for the ancient cotton fibers and have a better understanding of the archaeological cotton fibers. The unearthed fibers have an average length of 18.3 mm, fineness of 0.27 tex, and convolutions of approximately 53 turns per centimeter. The archaeological fibers are found to share similar characteristics with the modern fibers. Both the crystallinity and the crystalline sizes of the unearthed fibers are no less than those of the modern fibers, suggesting the dry conditions in Xinjiang have preserved the fibers well. Significant reduction in both breaking strength and breaking elongation is likely attributable to the degradation of the average degree of polymerization detected in the unearthed cotton fibers.

Key words: archaeological cotton fiber , unearthed fiber , crystallinity , mechanical property