††A rope is a thick cord made of twisted strands of fibres. It is thought from evidence in Lascaux, France, that rope had been invented by 15,000 BC. The ancient Egyptians made ropes from grass fibres, bulrushes and hair from camels. Hemp fibre was first used for making rope in China in 2800 BC. Hemp rope eventually replaced all other types of rope. In 1792 Edmund Cartwright invented the Corderlier, a machine for making rope. Until the late 19th century, ropes were usually made in ropewalks. These were buildings up to 400m (1,300') long with low roofs. The fibres were attached to a wheel which a boy turned while a man walked backwards with the fibres attached to his waist, thus twisting the fibres. The main vegetable fibres used now for making ropes are sisal, manila, hemp and coir. However, more and more ropes are being made from artificial fibres such as plastics, glass fibre, nylon and metals.
