Coa vestis is an

ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...

type of fabric named after its point of origin, the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

island Kos. ''Coa vestis'' was made by the wild silk of '' Pachypasa otus'', a Mediterranean moth.Bombyx
in

Merriam Webster Merriam-Webster, Incorporated is an American company that publishes reference books and is mostly known for its dictionaries. It is the oldest dictionary publisher in the United States. In 1831, George and Charles Merriam founded the compa ...

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

first mentioned ''coa vestis'' in the 4th century BC. The elder Pliny reported Pamphila of Kos, daughter of Plateas, discovered the secret of silk manufacture. Pliny the Elder, ''

Naturalis historia The ''Natural History'' () is a Latin work by Pliny the Elder. The largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day, the ''Natural History'' compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. Despite the work' ...

'' 11, 26. After the 1st century AD the ''coa vestis'' was gradually superseded by Chinese silk, which was superior in quality.

References

{{reflist, 2 Wild silk Greek clothing Roman-era clothing Kos