In the Roman world bathing and grooming were a big deal, and regular trips to the bath house were a must. These weren’t just places to get clean, but somewhere to meet your friends and have a chat. Going to the baths could take all afternoon, with lots of complicated steps to keep clean and healthy.
There was maintenance to do at home as well, and lots of tools you might need to stay looking your best. This blog by MOLA Small Finds Specialist (trainee) Nicola Hurt shares the pieces of kit which helped Roman Londoners look after their bodies, discovered during our excavations ahead of The Liberty development in Southwark.
Glass phials for oil
Small glass phials with long necks like these were used to hold valuable perfumes and cosmetics. They are often found in Roman cemeteries, where they probably contained the oils and fragrances used to prepare a body before burial.
Little round amphorisk bottles were more likely to contain oils for bathing. The handles meant they were easy to hang on a string and carry with you to the bath house. Romans bathed by rubbing oil on their body and scraping it off with a long, curved tool called a strigil.
Combs
Just like today, combs were used to style your hair, especially by Roman women. The goddess Venus was often depicted holding a comb and mirror, and wealthy women wanted to be shown on their gravestones having their hair put up in elaborate styles.
This comb has end plates carved in the shape of two dolphins with their noses touching. Can you spot the dots for their eyes?
Nail cleaner
Our next find shows the importance of keeping your nails neat in Roman London!
This unusual looking object is a nail cleaner. They were used across Roman Britain but aren’t commonly found anywhere else in the Roman Empire.
This one is missing it’s two-pointed tip – the business end of the nail cleaner - but still has a loop for threading through a cord or small chain to carry it around. We often find nail cleaners as part of sets with other essentials like tweezers and ear scoops – but also on their own, as in this case.
Below is a much more complete example of the same style of nail cleaner, found in Norfolk and recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
A marble basin
You might remember this marble basin from one of our previous blogs!
Similar stone mortars from other sites dating to the Roman period have been found with traces of ground pigments. These could be the remains of make-up.
We know from several Roman authors that green eyeshadow, pink cheeks, and kohl lined eyes were very desirable. They also write about recipes for creams, masks, and spot treatments to keep a clear complexion. Some of these recipes included crocodile dung as an ingredient, so maybe not something you want to try at home.
There’s such a huge variety of finds from The Liberty, this is just a small sample of the incredible things we’ve found. Keep following our series of blogs and check out some our previous posts to find out more.
Archaeological investigations at The Liberty are being carried out by MOLA on behalf of Landsec, Transport for London (TfL), and Southwark Council.
