Editing Tanning (leather) (section)

== History ==
{{Further|History of hide materials}}Tanning hide into leather involves a process which permanently alters the protein structure of skin, making it more durable and less susceptible to [[decomposition]] and coloring. The place where hides are processed is known as a ''tannery''.[[File:Lohgerber 1880.jpg|thumb|Tanning, 1880]]
[[File:Mendel II 077 r.jpg|thumb|180px|Tanner, [[Nuremberg]], 1609]]
[[File: Peeling hemlock bark for tanning.jpg|thumb|Peeling hemlock bark for the tannery in [[Prattsville, New York]], during the 1840s, when it was the largest in the world]]

The English word for tanning is from the [[medieval Latin]] verb {{lang|la|tannāre}}, from the noun {{lang|la|tannum}} ([[oak bark]]). This term may be derived from a Celtic word related to the  Proto-Indo-European *''{{PIE|dʰonu}}'' meaning '[[fir]] tree'. (The same root is the source for [[Old High German]] {{lang|goh|tanna}} meaning 'fir', related to modern German ''Tannenbaum'').

Ancient civilizations used leather for [[waterskin]]s, bags, harnesses and tack, boats, [[armour]], [[quiver]]s, [[scabbard]]s, [[boot]]s, and [[sandal]]s. Tanning was being carried out by the inhabitants of [[Mehrgarh]] in Pakistan between 7000 and 3300&nbsp;BCE.<ref name=Possehl>Possehl, Gregory L. (1996). ''Mehrgarh'' in ''Oxford Companion to Archaeology'', edited by Brian Fagan. Oxford University Press.</ref> Around [[2500&nbsp;BCE]], the [[Sumer]]ians began using leather, affixed by [[copper]] [[wikt:stud#Etymology 2|studs]], on [[chariot]] [[wheel]]s.{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}

The process of tanning was also used for boats and fishing vessels: ropes, nets, and sails were tanned using tree bark.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schrickx |first1=Christianus Petrus |first2=D.M. |last2=Duijn |title=Zeelieden, bedelaars en gevangenen op een eiland in de Zuiderzee: Cultuurhistorie en archeologie van het Oostereiland in Hoorn |publisher=Gemeente Hoorn, Bureau Erfgoed, Archeologie |year=2010 |url=https://archeologiewestfriesland.nl/publicatie/war-20/}}</ref>

Formerly, tanning was considered a noxious or "odoriferous trade" and relegated to the outskirts of town, among the poor. Tanning by ancient methods is so foul-smelling that tanneries are still isolated from those towns today where the old methods are used. Skins typically arrived at the tannery dried stiff and dirty with soil and gore. First, the ancient tanners would soak the skins in water to clean and soften them. Then they would pound and scour the skin to remove any remaining [[flesh]] and [[fat]]. Hair was removed by soaking the skin in [[urine]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/from-gunpowder-to-teeth-whitener-the-science-behind-historic-uses-of-urine-442390/|title=From Gunpowder to Teeth Whitener: The Science Behind Historic Uses of Urine|first=Mohi|last=Kumar|website=smithsonian.com|date=August 20, 2013|access-date=December 16, 2018}}</ref> painting it with an [[alkaline]] [[lime (material)|lime]] mixture, or simply allowing the skin to putrefy for several months then dipping it in a salt solution. After the hair was loosened, the tanners scraped it off with a knife. Once the hair was removed, the tanners would "[[bating (leather)|bate]]" (soften) the material by pounding [[feces|dung]] into the skin, or soaking the skin in a solution of animal brains. Bating was a fermentative process that relied on enzymes produced by bacteria found in the dung. Among the kinds of dung commonly used were those of dogs or pigeons.<ref name="ghost">{{cite book|last=Johnson|author-link=Steven Johnson (author)|first=Steven|title=The Ghost Map|publisher=Riverhead Books|location=New York|date=2006|pages=4,263|isbn=978-1-59448-269-4|title-link=The Ghost Map}}</ref>

Historically the {{clarify|text=actual|date=May 2025}} tanning process used vegetable tanning. In some variations of the process, [[cedar oil]], [[alum]], or tannin was applied to the skin as a tanning agent. As the skin was stretched, it would lose moisture and absorb the agent.

Following the adoption in medicine of soaking gut [[Surgical suture|suture]]s in a chromium (III) solution after 1840, it was discovered that this method could also be used with leather and thus was adopted by tanners.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leathermag.com/features/featurea-history-of-new-ideas-in-tanning/|title=A history of new ideas in tanning - Leather International|website=www.leathermag.com|access-date=27 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102171840/http://www.leathermag.com/features/featurea-history-of-new-ideas-in-tanning/|archive-date=2 January 2017}}</ref>