Wicker is hard woven fiber formed into a rigid material, usually used for baskets or furniture. Wicker is often made of material of plant origin, but plastic fibers are also used.  Rattan is the name for the roughly 600 species of palms in the tribe Calameae, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Australasia. Wicker furniture has been documented as far back as ancient Egypt, and wicker baskets have been found in Pompeii.  It has been proposed that the extensive use of wicker objects in the Iron Age had an influence on the development of the patterns used in Celtic art.