A museum says it has confirmed that a fragment of fabric unearthed at the site of a Buddhist temple in 1999 is cotton, which makes it the oldest-known piece of cotton discovered in the nation.

Researchers at the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage made the confirmation on the piece of fabric, which is two centimeters wide and 12 centimeters long.

Korean historians had believed that cotton was introduced in the 14th century, or 800 years after the material found at the Buddhist temple is thought to have been woven.