'Roman Cosmetics' Found at London Temple Dig

[eyelikeart]

So, it appears some very old facial cream has been unearthed. Pretty interesting, with the fingermarks in it still.

I'll be taking bets & setting odds on what it turns out to be.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Taking bets, eh?

It is amazing some of the things they're finding. Although I don't know if they'll ever be 100% sure what this cosmetic is. Was it for religious rituals or something for bed sores? It will be a tough one to figure out.

D

 

[eyelikeart]

this is true...

the lab tests may find some unknown substances in it even...

hmm...maybe it was used for...uh...extra curricular activity?

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Ha, for all we know it was cold cream - Noxema Romanus

But from an archeological point of view, anything that can further tell us about the everyday life of ancient peoples is sometimes much more important than a written history from Livy or Polybius.

D

 

[wdlove]

Hopefully it will turn out to be something that will be useful for mankind today. Maybe it will be a cream to revitalize the skin!

 

[Mr. Anderson]

I don't think it will something totally new. Any lost *art* (process of making something, etc, not a painting or sculpture) would be huge!

And you never know, even though medicine and technology was well below what you enjoy today, there's no telling that their might have been a better way of doing something.

D

 

[idea_hamster]

If we're lucky...

Maybe it contains an extract of the often-rumored "sylphium" -- an herb said to have once grown in modern-day Libya and to have been prized for use as a seasoning.

Legend has it that it was harvested to extinction due to its popularity and that the last known sprig of sylphium was presented to Nero, who promptly consumed it.

Today's recipe, folks:

1 jar ancient Roman sylphium-scented cream
1 heavy dollop suspension of scepticism
2 tsp Jurrasic Park DNA sci-fi

Mix all ingredients vigorously in as many aluminum G5 towers as needed.

Yield: 1 viable sylphium seed
Serves: Thousands

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Re: If we're lucky...

Originally posted by idea_hamster
Maybe it contains an extract of the often-rumored "sylphium" -- an herb said to have once grown in modern-day Libya and to have been prized for use as a seasoning.

Legend has it that it was harvested to extinction due to its popularity and that the last known sprig of sylphium was presented to Nero, who promptly consumed it.

I'd never heard about this - imagine that, human catnip

I wonder if we'll ever find any of its remains....

D

 

[Abstract]

Margaret Thatcher took a vacation to Rome and dropped her facial cream. That is all.

 

[wdlove]

Originally posted by Abstract
Margaret Thatcher took a vacation to Rome and dropped her facial cream. That is all.

I would hope that they have done carbon dating already!

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Even without carbon dating, if the site had not been touched before, just knowing the layers relative age by relative dating of other objects (coins, and such) they'd know when it was from.

D