Scoarță (from Latin "scorta," meaning tree bark)
The hand-weaving of wool wall carpets, called scoarță — a word derived from the Latin scorta, or tree bark, reflecting the textiles' original function lining a home's interior walls for warmth — practiced across Romania and the Republic of Moldova on horizontal and vertical looms using techniques including thread-by-thread tight picking, curved weft, and slit-weave tapestry, historically produced not only in peasant households but in specialized workshops within Orthodox convents, and carrying such genuine initiatory weight as part of a bride's dowry that, historically, a girl who had not learned the craft had little real chance of marrying.
Risk level: Vulnerable · UNESCO Representative List (2016) — Wall-Carpet Craftsmanship (Romania/Moldova joint)
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