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▶ adornment

introduction
In modern life people in developed countries spend billions
of dollars on personal adornments, including clothing, jew-
elry, makeup, hair-care products, and perfumes. It is tempt-
ing to believe that people who lived in ancient, simpler
times, when mere day-to-day survival was their paramount
concern, did not give in to the temptations of vanity. Th is
belief would be incorrect. Th roughout the world the archae-
ological record shows that people who lived thousands of
years ago devoted considerable attention to their personal
appearance and found numerous ways to adorn themselves.
Of course, the extent and variety of this personal adornment
varied with rank and social class in much the same way it
does in modern life. Royalty and people of high social rank
probably adorned themselves in much more luxurious ways
than did the poor or members of lower classes. Not only
could they aff ord the materials they needed for personal
adornment; they also used such adornments as markers of
their social class. Sometimes the adornments had religious
signifi cance as well.
Oft en, too, items of adornment had a more practical
signifi cance. In ancient times the world’s population tended
to cluster close to the equator, where climates were mild and
people did not have to protect themselves from the bitter
cold of more northerly regions. Th e trade-off , however, was
that many ancient peoples were oft en exposed to extremely
dry air and to intense sunlight. As a result, they took steps
to protect and moisturize their skin using makeup made of
a variety of substances, all with a view to restoring the skin’s

moisture. Typically, as civilization developed, men were

outdoors more than women, so they tended to have deep

tans that protected them from the sun; women, on the other

hand, spent more time indoors, so they needed more skin

protection from both cosmetics and clothing when they

ventured out.

Th e evidence that suggests a concern with personal

adornment is found principally in tombs and artwork,

though in some cases, such as ancient Greece, there is a

written record of eff orts people made to adorn themselves.

Archaeologists, though, have discovered numerous arti-

facts in tombs that existed entirely for purposes of personal

adornment, and surviving artwork shows people who used

makeup, jewelry, clothing, and other items to enhance their

personal appearance.

Most of these items were made from materials that were

at hand, though as trade developed, the wealthy came to val-

ue imported materials as a symbol of status. Common ma-

terials used to create items of personal adornment included

bone, shells, wood, precious metals such as gold and silver,

other metals such as copper, and semiprecious stones, includ-

ing, for example, jade. Th ese materials were made into beads,

necklaces, hair clips, rings, bracelets, necklaces, ankle brace-

lets, and similar items. Cosmetics were made primarily from

plant materials, and spices were used for perfumes and lotions

and for bathing. Henna, a dye still used in the 21st century,

was oft en used as a hair dye. Th roughout the world it was also

common for people to use natural dyes to tattoo themselves.

Among archaeological remains are also found such items as

mirrors, tweezers, and similar cosmetic tools that would have

been used particularly by women.