Cosmetics were aimed primarily at bodily hygiene. Th ey
were made ma i n ly of per f u med lot ions to be appl ied to t he en-
tire body several times a day. Th ey also included a wide range
of makeup products for women. On skin previously cleaned
with a lotion, women applied mineral powders of diff erent
colors: white lead (which, in fact, was extremely harmful to
the skin), chalk, and “Melian earth” (that is, earth from the
island of Melos) for a pale color; rubrica and purpurissum for
a touch of red; stibium (in fact, a derivative of lead) to make
eyelashes and brows black. Various works on drugs and med-
icine, particularly De materia medica (Th e Materials of Medi-
cine) by Dioscorides (ca. 40–ca. 90 c.e.), include an infi nite
range of recipes for the aesthetic treatment of wounds, scars,
and other imperfections of the skin—not only to treat them
but also to erase their possible traces. Th ey were oft en made
of caustic vegetal substances that eliminated the fi rst layer of
the skin, not without provoking problems due to excessive
abrasion. Ancient Latin texts also describe cold creams for
the skin, which were used to alleviate wrinkles and to make
the skin soft.
Mouth hygiene was particularly important to ancient
Romans. Th e Compositiones (Prescriptions) of the physician
Scribonius Largus (fl. fi rst century c.e.) describes toothpastes
made of a pasty base, to which were added abrasive substanc-
es of a mineral nature (to clean the teeth) together with tasty
vegetal products to refresh the mouth. Hair care was also im-
portant. Baldness was a major complaint, and medical texts
list numerous vegetal and animal substances supposedly
capable of regenerating hair. (In fact, they provoke a higher
infl ux of blood to the scalp.) From the third century c.e. on,
when recipes were listed in medical texts in detail, formulas
against baldness always appeared fi rst. All kinds of perfumed
substances were applied to the hair, and it was colored either
black or blond with vegetal and mineral products. Men’s hair,
which was rather long, was dressed in early Roman times in
a way very similar to the Greek style. Th e fashion trended to-
ward shorter hair starting in the fi rst century c.e. Women
wore a rather simple hairstyle during the time of the Roman
Republic, from the fi ft h century b.c.e. until the fi rst century
c.e. During the period of the Roman Empire that followed,
however, they adopted extravagant styles dominated by the
court. Later, from the second century c.e. on, simplicity made
a comeback.
Personal adornment was completed with jewelry, even
though extravagant jewels had been prohibited as early as the
Twelve Table Law (the foundation of Roman Republic law,
drawn up in about 451–450 b.c.e.). A short-lived prohibition
against a woman’s right to own gold or wear elaborate cloth-
ing was instituted in 215 b.c.e. in the Lex Oppia (abolished
in 195 b.c.e.). Nevertheless, the wearing of jewelry had a long
tradition in the Mediterranean (dating back at least to the
third millennium b.c.e.) and was widely diff used in Roman
society, as the vestiges excavated at Pompeii, for example, tes-
tify. Women usually wore bands in their hair, earrings, neck
chains, bracelets and arm rings, and rings on the index fi nger.
Jade pectoral of the Olmec culture (Mexico), showing large holes in
the earlobes, where earplugs would be placed (© Th e Trustees of the
British Museum)adornment: The Americas 13A particular case was gem rings, used as seals. Th e luxury of
Roman adornment was sharply criticized by the fi rst Chris-
tian apologists, who saw in it a sign of decadence that was
rightly to be punished by God.THE AMERICAS
BY JULIA MARTA CLAPP
Our knowledge of the objects that peoples from ancient
American civilizations used to adorn themselves is largely
dependent on fi ndings at burial sites as well as on informa-
tion deduced from paintings and sculptures. Many ancient
American peoples were skilled metalworkers, and silver, gold,
and copper were used frequently to great eff ect in addition to
bone, jade, wood, and shell. Th e purposes of ancient adorn-
ment were oft en as an indicator of social rank and as part
of religious rituals. Excavations from other ancient cultures,
such as the ancient Egyptians, have yielded evidence of the
use of cosmetics, both by depictions of made-up faces and
the remains of cosmetics vessels. Unfortunately, in the an-
cient Americas no such evidence exists, owing partly to the
relative lack of painted documents or sculpture. Any claims
about the use of cosmetics at this point would be speculative
and without signifi cant material evidence.
Certain features are nearly omnipresent in Mesoamer-
ican culture as early as the Olmec (1500 b.c.e.–400 b.c.e.).
Stela 3, from the Olmec site La Venta (1200 b.c.e.–400 b.c.e.)
in what is now Mexico, shows a ruler wearing a headdress so
elaborate and tall that it nearly doubles the wearer’s height.
Also notable from this era is the documentation of facial hair: