methods for attracting lovers, suggests that women tattoo
themselves and use makeup on their faces, nails, and bodies.
Th ey colored their eyelids with a dye made with antimony,
a poisonous heavy metal. Th ey colored their faces and arms
with yellow saff ron powder.
Henna, a paste that leaves red stains on the skin, was a
popular cosmetic substance in ancient India and in other
parts of Asia. Some historians believe that henna originated
in ancient India about 5,000 years ago, though others think
that it was brought to India from Egypt. Henna decorations
appear in cave paintings in the Deccan in western India and
in Sri Lanka, dating to the fourth or fi ft h century c.e. Indi-
an people mixed henna with other plant substances, such as
tea, coff ee, or lemon, to make a paste and applied it to their
hair to redden it. Th ey also used it to draw elaborate designs
on their bodies, especially for such special occasions as wed-
dings. Henna stains can last for several weeks, until the up-
per layer of the skin wears off. Th e hands and feet were the
most popular places to draw henna designs, partly because
the stains last the longest on those areas of the body.
Th e art of making gold jewelry traveled with Hindu trad-
ers from India to Southeast Asia about 2,000 years ago. Th ey
landed in western Th ailand, where the Mon people of the
area learned the techniques and became expert goldsmiths in
their own right. Early Mon jewelry looks very much like In-
dian jewelry of the time. Goldsmithing spread to the Khmer
and Tai people to the east; they also made necklaces, earrings,
and bracelets in the Hindu style. Pacifi c Islanders had lim-
ited materials with which to make jewelry. Th ey made their
adornments out of locally available materials, such as shell,
feathers, bone, and wood.
Japanese adornment in ancient times was not nearly as
elaborate as it became in later periods, and it usually had a prac-
tical purpose. Before 300 c.e. men and women wore clothing
made of hemp, with loose belts that they tied in an attractive
fashion. Between 300 and 500 c.e. the Japanese people began
wearing robes made of silk, likewise fastened with decorative
belts. Th ese belts gradually evolved into the obi, a long, elabo-
rately embroidered strip of cloth used to tie robes around the
waist. Th e only jewelry Japanese people wore in ancient times
were small pieces of jade carved into a comma shape and worn
on a necklace. Th ey buried these pendants with their dead. Th e
Japanese did not begin working with incense until the fourth
century c.e. Th ey quickly developed incense into an art form,
using it to set moods in rooms or to prepare the ambiance for
ceremonies, but they did not regularly use perfume on their
bodies until the eighth century.
EUROPE
BY CARYN E. NEUMANN
It is diffi cult to determine the types of adornment used in an-
cient Europe because much of the evidence did not survive
the passage of time. Adornment included belts, brooches,
crowns, hairstyles, and tattoos as well as perfumes and of-
ten served both ornamental and practical purposes. It also
typically refl ected class divisions. Many adornments, such as
jewels and perfume, were available in only small quantities,
and this rarity limited their use to the nobility.
Hairstyles are perhaps the simplest form of adornment.
Th e Frankish kings in the second century wore their hair long,
whereas the rest of the men in the royal court and other male
subjects had short hair. Among the Celts, both sexes preferred
long hair, which women wore in braided pigtails. Men appar-
ently shaved all facial hair, preserving only mustaches. Among
other groups, evidence of styles is lacking, though long hair
appears to have been common for both men and women. On
the other hand, perfume is one of the most complex forms of
adornments, since the scent needs to be long lasting. Perfumes
based on fl oral scents have been popular since ancient times.
Tattooing has been a European practice since Neolithic
times (7000–2000 b.c.e.) but the purpose of tattoos at that peri-
od in history is not always clear today. Pict (from the Latin pin-
gere for “painted folk”) warriors, active in present-day Scotland
and noted in Roman literature in the third century c.e. colored
their bodies with woad, a type of blue dye, before going into
battle; this habit made them look terrifying to the Romans. Th e
Picts may have turned themselves blue to intimidate their foes,
to secure the protection of the gods, or to obtain some other
advantage. Tattoos among Europeans oft en were animal de-
signs, perhaps to give the wearers the attributes of the animals.
Th e Picts were famously tattooed (or scarifi ed, that is, cut or
scratched) with elaborate dark blue woad designs. Germanic,
Celtic, and other central and northern European tribes were
also heavily tattooed, according to surviving accounts.
Belts were found at every level of ancient society because
they had both ornamental and practical purposes. Distinctive
belts served as insignia of high civil or military status. Begin-
ning in the fourth century c.e. in Gaul and Germany, belts
were buried in graves with their owners, since they expressed
ideal status and were thought to protect their wearers. Th e
wide belts of women found in Celtic graves have one or more
leaves of beaten bronze, with geometric ornaments. In other
parts of Europe gem-bedecked gold belts were off ered along
with swords as precious gift s and tribute. In Ireland belts
sometime had hollowed spaces for holding relics or amulets.
Brooches in antiquity were also not simply ornamental
items but frequently were employed to join pieces of cloth-
ing. However, most examples show some form of decorative
elaboration, either through being made of showy metals like
copper or gold or by being engraved or decoratively enlarged
and used as a setting for gems. Th e Celts adorned themselves
with copper and bronze bracelets and brooches of a style that
has remained popular even in modern times.
Celtic jewelry is especially distinctive and has been well
preserved through the ages. Highly imaginative representa-
tions of the human form, including both the head and full
body, are found on Celtic jewelry. Geometric designs known
as Celtic knots and representations of fl ora and fauna were
also popular. Celtic knots are complete loops with no end oradornment: Europe 9