Hide (skin)

A hide or skin is an animal skin treated for human use. The word "hide" is related to the Dutch word "huid" which refers to mammal (human and animal) skin. Common commercial hides include leather from cattle and other animals, buckskin, alligator skin and snake skin. All are used for shoes, clothes and other fashion accessories. Leather is also used in upholstery, interior decorating, horse tack and harnesses. Such skins are sometimes still gathered from hunting and processed at a domestic or artisanal level but most leather making is now industrialized and large-scale. Various tannins are used for this purpose.

The term "hide" is sometimes expanded to include furs, which are harvested from various species, including cats, mustelids, and bears.

Archaeologists believe that animal hides provided an important source of clothing and shelter for all prehistoric humans and their use continued among non-agricultural societies into modern times. The Inuit, for example, used animal hides for summer tents, waterproof clothes, and kayaks. In early medieval era hides were used to protect wooden castles and defence buildings from setting alight during a siege. Various American Indian tribes used hides in the construction of tepees and wigwams, moccasins, and buckskins. They were sometimes used as window coverings. Until the invention of plastic drum heads in the 1950s, animal hides or metal was used.

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