Monday, November 27, 2006

Leather from animals

Today, most leather is prepared of cow hides, but many exceptions exist. Lamb and deer skin are used for soft leather in more costly apparels. Kangaroo leather is used to create items which need to be strong but supple, such as motorcycle gloves. Kangaroo leather is preferential by motorcyclists specifically because of its lighter weight and superior scratch conflict as compared to cowhide. Leather made from more striking skins has at different times in history been considered very beautiful. For this reason certain snakes and crocodiles have been sought to near extinction.

In the 1970s, farming of ostriches for their feathers became trendy. As a side product, ostrich leather became accessible. There are different processes to produce special finishes for many applications i.e. upholstery, footwear, automotive, accessories and clothing. Ostrich leather is measured to be of the finest and strongest in the world and at present used by all the big fashion houses like Hermès, Prada, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton. Ostrich leather has an attribute "goose bump" look because of the large follicles from which the feathers grew.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

After the monument
Even though the last known construction of Stonehenge was about 1600 BC, and the last known usage of Stonehenge was during the Iron Age where Roman coins, prehistoric pottery, an unusual bone point and a skeleton of a young male were found, we have no idea if Stonehenge was in continuous use or exactly how it was used. The burial of a decapitated Saxon man has also been excavated from Stonehenge, dated to the 7th century. The site was known by scholars during the Middle Ages and since then it has been studied and adopted by numerous different groups. For further details of Stonehenge's historical role, see below.