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Roman Britain: New Findings & Discoveries

Kondoru said:
Thats a nice piece. How do they know its Roman?
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Frideswide said:
and as a follow-on question, how do they know it's a hairpin?
Click to expand...
My best guess would be that there are Roman hairpins that have been found and dated previously, and it is a case of comparing the find with known examples, in a similar way they do when identifying pottery fragments, tile shards etc.
 
If it's a donkey then it likely represents the 1st Cromer Mounted Foot Auxiliaries.

Archaeologists are trying to identify a mystery carving of a naked horseman dug up at a Roman fort.

The sandstone altar of a man holding a spear on either a donkey or a horse was found by two volunteers at Vindolanda, near Hexham, Northumberland. It was found intact near a 4th Century cavalry barrack and it is believed to depict either the Gods Mars or Mercury, although there is no inscription. The artefact will be on display at the fort's museum from Thursday.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-57636657
 
Might be deliberate, might be an accident.

A Roman coin of the last pagan emperor which might have been deliberately damaged as an "act of erasure" was found by two metal detectorists.

It depicts Julian the Apostate, part of Rome's first Christian dynasty, who revived paganism when he became the emperor in AD361. The coin was part of a hoard found near King's Lynn, Norfolk, in March 2020. It appears to have been hidden during the AD367 Barbarian Conspiracy, a time of great turmoil in Roman Britain.

A British Museum expert suggested a gouge on the coin around Julian's eyes could be an "act of erasure against the last pagan emperor".

But Adrian Marsden, a numismatist or coin specialist with the Norfolk Historic Environment Service, believes it looks more like accidental damage, as other Julian coins discovered in the hoard remain untouched.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-58001605
 
Comfortably Numb said:
First intact Roman-era egg recovered

Source: archaeology.co.uk
Date: 5 February, 2020

Archaeologists have recovered the first intact egg from Roman Britain among other unusual finds during investigations in Buckinghamshire.

Oxford Archaeology’s excavation at Berryfields uncovered a wealth of evidence for Iron Age and Roman occupation at the site. They found a waterlogged pit containing what are thought to be votive deposits, including four Roman chicken eggs and a well-preserved basketry tray, as well as bridge timbers that may have carried Akeman Street over the River Thame (a tributary of the Thames).

The site is located along the path of Akeman Street, an important Roman road that now lies beneath the A41, and adjacent to the site of a Roman town in the parish of Fleet Marston. It was therefore assumed that some evidence of Roman activity would be found at Berryfields – but the site yielded a much wider range of archaeology than expected.

https://www.archaeology.co.uk/articles/first-intact-roman-era-egg-recovered.htm
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More finds at Fleet Marston.

Decapitated skeletons, brooches, spoons, coins and tableware have been found in an archaeological dig that uncovered part of a Roman town.

The excavation at Fleet Marston, near Aylesbury, took place as part of work to create the HS2 high-speed railway. This included the largest Roman cemetery yet to be excavated in Buckinghamshire, with 425 burials.

Archaeologist Richard Brown described the dig as "significant", enabling future study of the town's inhabitants.

A team of about 50 COPA JV archaeologists uncovered a series of enclosures developed on a ladder-like plan on either side of Akeman Street, a major Roman road that linked Verulamium (modern day St Albans) with Corinium Dobunnorum (now Cirencester).
Several lead weights and more than 1,200 coins were discovered, suggesting the site was used for trade and as a staging post for travellers and soldiers passing along the road to the garrison at Alchester.

About 10% of those buried in the late Roman cemetery were decapitated, which could be a "normal, albeit marginal, burial rite" - or an indication those decapitated were criminals or outcasts.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-60254154
 
Roman mosaic floor found in Southwark

Experts say it is the largest of its kind found in London for more than 50 years.

The mosaic will be carefully recorded and assessed by a team of conservators before being lifted and transported safely away.

Once removed, more detailed conservation work on it can take place.

‘This is a once-in-a-lifetime find in London,’ said Antonietta Lerz, MOLA site supervisor.

‘It has been a privilege to work on such a large site where the Roman archaeology is largely undisturbed by later activity – when the first flashes of colour started to emerge through the soil everyone on site was very excited.’
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Who were these diggers?

Identities of mystery Corbridge Roman excavators sought​

Published7 hours ago
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A group of men and boys standing with uncovered stone lion
IMAGE SOURCE, FAIRLESS FAMILY. Image caption, English Heritage said the amateur archaeologists discovered internationally important objects

Historians are hoping to identify the labourers who unearthed the remains of a Roman town more than 100 years ago.

English Heritage has released colourised photographs of the Edwardian excavators of the Coria Roman settlement at Corbridge, Northumberland.

Research has already identified 11 of the amateur archaeologists who worked at the site from 1906 to 1914.

Curator Dr Frances McIntosh said the excavators' work was "phenomenal". She said many of those who did the digging had no experience of archaeology having worked as brick makers, miners and gardeners.

Excavation of the most northerly town of the Roman Empire was overseen by Oxford professor Francis Haverfield who was one of the first people to undertake a scientific study of Roman Britain.

He invited colleagues from the university to the site to oversee the labourers' work and train them in archaeological techniques. ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-61009960
 
Stu Neville.Yithian.swifty.enolia.james whitehead.
I was going to say skargy as well but I don’t want me head kicked in
 
Who me said:
Stu Neville.Yithian.swifty.enolia.james whitehead.
I was going to say skargy as well but I don’t want me head kicked in
Click to expand...

That's the young Skargy in front with the bucket, she was a milkmaid bringing lunch to the diggers.
 
Romans ventured deeper into Wales than thought, road discovery shows.

Evidence uncovered in Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire extends known reach further west across Britain.

The awe-inspiring beauty of the Preseli Hills and the surrounding wild moorlands have long drawn visitors to north Pembrokeshire in Wales. Now an archaeologist has found evidence that even the Romans were drawn to the area, with the discovery of an ancient road showing they travelled farther west across Britain than previously thought.

Dr Mark Merrony, a Roman specialist, tutor at Oxford University and “a native of Pembrokeshire”, said the road had been completely missed. “This thing is just extraordinary. I’m astonished,” he said.


“I think they’ll go crazy in Wales over this because it’s pushing the Roman presence much more across Pembrokeshire. There’s this perception that the Romans didn’t go very far in Wales, but actually they were all over Wales.”

He said antiquarians in the late 17th and early 19th centuries had embraced the existence of a Roman road and it had been marked on 19th-century Ordnance Survey maps. “But the idea was then rejected and removed from those maps,” he said.

Merrony spoke of finding a section of perfectly preserved Roman road buried in peat and further evidence in sunken lanes and low causeways barely discernible today but which followed straight routes and worked round hill contours “with perfect economy”, all typically Roman.
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(C) The Guardian. '22.
 
Bronze Medusa head found in Somerset field

Thought to be probably Roman.
The retired farmer said: “I dug it up when I was digging a ditch in my field about six years ago. I didn’t know what it was at first but realised it was very old.

“It’s been kept in a drawer ever since. I hope a museum bids for it as I think it deserves to be on public display.

The relic, which is thought to date back to the Roman period, is set to go under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers' Fine Art Sale in Etwall, Derbyshire this week with an estimate of £1,500 to £2,000.

"Medusa was popular in Roman antiquity and it is likely the example discovered in Somerset is Roman. Large parts of Britain, including Somerset, were occupied by the Roman Empire from AD 43 to AD 410.”
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1665347178789.png
 
Interesting family grave discovered.

DNA analysis of three late Roman-era skeletons found in the same grave has revealed "a family tragedy".

Experts now believe a mother, her unborn son and her mother-in-law became ill and died at the same time. The grave was found at Cheddington, Buckinghamshire, and the DNA was sequenced as part of an ancient genome project.

Human bone specialist Sharon Clough said the family relationship was "an entirely unexpected discovery".

Ms Clough said: "Obviously a tragedy had happened to that family and that community - and the community wanted to continue the relationship the women had in life in death."

The grave was found during an excavation in 2018 and was considered "unusual", because most late-Roman or early Saxon era graves contain just the one body.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-63077187
 
More stunning finds at the Rutland farm site.

A "treasure trove" of finds has been unearthed at the site of a Roman villa discovered beneath a farmer's field.

Archaeologists said they were "gobsmacked" to find more lavish buildings and another mosaic when they returned to the area in Rutland.
Experts first found the artwork, which depicts scenes from Trojan war epic The Iliad, in a dig in 2021. Historic England hailed it as one of the most significant of its kind in Britain.

The property included a large hall, about 50m (164ft) away from the villa, featuring a bath suite with hot and cold rooms as well as extensive living spaces. It was thought to have been occupied in the late Roman period, between the 3rd and 4th Century AD. Experts believe the villa owners' extended family may have lived in the hall, which Historic England has likened to a 4th or 5th century barn conversion.

It was during the first national lockdown in 2020 when Jim Irvine first spotted some old pottery in one of his father's fields.
An archaeology enthusiast, Mr Irvine and his family started to dig and quickly realised they had found something spectacular.

The mosaic
IMAGE SOURCE ,HISTORIC ENGLAND Image caption, The impressive mosaic is one of only a handful across Europe

The local archaeological finds officer was informed, along with Historic England, which led to experts from the University of Leicester being brought in to carry out more detailed excavations and surveys.

They returned in the summer and uncovered more buildings - a large hall, about 50m (164 ft) away from the villa, including a bath suite with hot and cold rooms as well as extensive living spaces, likely adapted from an earlier farm building.

The second mosaic is believed to be part of a dining or entertaining area of the large villa. It features an intricate geometric pattern and further supports the theory the villa was occupied by a wealthy individual, the organisation added.
John Thomas, deputy director of the university's archaeological services, said: "The (Lliad) mosaic is a fantastic eye-catching find, but it's just one element of a much bigger settlement that we now know of from the geophysics.

"The survival is just fantastic, it's a complete one-off really." ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-63326943
 
ramonmercado said:
More stunning finds at the Rutland farm site.

A "treasure trove" of finds has been unearthed at the site of a Roman villa discovered beneath a farmer's field.

Archaeologists said they were "gobsmacked" to find more lavish buildings and another mosaic when they returned to the area in Rutland.
Experts first found the artwork, which depicts scenes from Trojan war epic The Iliad, in a dig in 2021. Historic England hailed it as one of the most significant of its kind in Britain.

The property included a large hall, about 50m (164ft) away from the villa, featuring a bath suite with hot and cold rooms as well as extensive living spaces. It was thought to have been occupied in the late Roman period, between the 3rd and 4th Century AD. Experts believe the villa owners' extended family may have lived in the hall, which Historic England has likened to a 4th or 5th century barn conversion.

It was during the first national lockdown in 2020 when Jim Irvine first spotted some old pottery in one of his father's fields.
An archaeology enthusiast, Mr Irvine and his family started to dig and quickly realised they had found something spectacular.

The mosaic
IMAGE SOURCE ,HISTORIC ENGLAND Image caption, The impressive mosaic is one of only a handful across Europe

The local archaeological finds officer was informed, along with Historic England, which led to experts from the University of Leicester being brought in to carry out more detailed excavations and surveys.

They returned in the summer and uncovered more buildings - a large hall, about 50m (164 ft) away from the villa, including a bath suite with hot and cold rooms as well as extensive living spaces, likely adapted from an earlier farm building.

The second mosaic is believed to be part of a dining or entertaining area of the large villa. It features an intricate geometric pattern and further supports the theory the villa was occupied by a wealthy individual, the organisation added.
John Thomas, deputy director of the university's archaeological services, said: "The (Lliad) mosaic is a fantastic eye-catching find, but it's just one element of a much bigger settlement that we now know of from the geophysics.

"The survival is just fantastic, it's a complete one-off really." ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-63326943
Click to expand...
The charioteer on the left looks to have sustained a horrendous injury!
 
Hidden gems.

Taking your valuables with you into a swimming pool is always a risk. The Romans should have paid better heed, judging from the quantity of gemstones recovered from the drain of one of their bathhouses.

As many as 30 semi-precious stones have been discovered by archaeologists almost 2,000 years after their owners lost them at a site in modern-day Carlisle, just behind Hadrian’s Wall.

The stones had dropped out of their ring settings, their glue probably weakened in the steamy baths. They were simply flushed into the drains when the pools and saunas were cleaned.

Their loss would have been painful as these were engraved gems, known as intaglios. Although barely a few millimetres in diameter, they bear images whose extraordinary craftsmanship suggests they would have been expensive items in their day – the late 2nd century or 3rd century.

One bather lost an amethyst depicting Venus, holding either a flower or a mirror. Another lost a red-brown jasper featuring a satyr seated on rocks next to a sacred column. ...

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...ms-carved-stones-archaeologists-hadrians-wall
 
Looks as if it was put to practical use: both ends were noticeably smoother, indicating repeated use over time.

Hadrian's Wall: Wooden 'Roman sex toy' found in Northumberland​


Wooden phallus on display at Vindolanda
IMAGE SOURCE, THE VINDOLANDA TRUST Image caption, The wooden object was found among dozens of shoes and other accessories in a ditch

A wooden object found at a Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall initially thought to be a sewing tool may have been a 2nd Century sex toy.

Experts say the object, found in a ditch at Vindolanda, may be the earliest example of a wooden phallus found anywhere in the ex-Roman empire. However, they said they had not ruled out it could have been a good luck symbol or a tool to grind ingredients. It was first thought to be a darning tool and found with dozens of shoes.

Accessories and other small tools - along with leather off-cuts - were also found with it at the site, near Hexham in Northumberland.

'Smooth at both ends'​

However, experts from Newcastle University and University College Dublin say they now believe the object, which measures about 6.2in (16cm), might have had a more intimate use.

When they analysed it they found both ends were noticeably smoother, indicating repeated use over time.

Dr Rob Collins, a senior lecturer in archaeology at Newcastle University, said: "We know that the ancient Romans and Greeks used sexual implements - this object from Vindolanda could be an example of one."

Phalli were commonplace in the Roman Empire as they were believed to offer protection against bad luck. Many are depicted in art, carved into pottery or small versions - made of bone or metal - were often worn as jewellery pendants. ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-64678612
 
ramonmercado said:
Looks as if it was put to practical use: both ends were noticeably smoother, indicating repeated use over time.

Hadrian's Wall: Wooden 'Roman sex toy' found in Northumberland​


Wooden phallus on display at Vindolanda
IMAGE SOURCE, THE VINDOLANDA TRUST Image caption, The wooden object was found among dozens of shoes and other accessories in a ditch

A wooden object found at a Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall initially thought to be a sewing tool may have been a 2nd Century sex toy.

Experts say the object, found in a ditch at Vindolanda, may be the earliest example of a wooden phallus found anywhere in the ex-Roman empire. However, they said they had not ruled out it could have been a good luck symbol or a tool to grind ingredients. It was first thought to be a darning tool and found with dozens of shoes.

Accessories and other small tools - along with leather off-cuts - were also found with it at the site, near Hexham in Northumberland.

'Smooth at both ends'​

However, experts from Newcastle University and University College Dublin say they now believe the object, which measures about 6.2in (16cm), might have had a more intimate use.

When they analysed it they found both ends were noticeably smoother, indicating repeated use over time.

Dr Rob Collins, a senior lecturer in archaeology at Newcastle University, said: "We know that the ancient Romans and Greeks used sexual implements - this object from Vindolanda could be an example of one."

Phalli were commonplace in the Roman Empire as they were believed to offer protection against bad luck. Many are depicted in art, carved into pottery or small versions - made of bone or metal - were often worn as jewellery pendants. ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-64678612
Click to expand...
Perhaps they are confusing cobblers and cobblers?
Either a shoe makers lathe or the home of a shoe fetishist? :thought:
 
Shrine beneath a shrine.

Roman shrine discovered near Leicester cathedral graveyard​

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The altar

Image caption, The broken altar base was discovered in what would have been the basement of a large Roman building By Phil Mackie Midlands Correspondent


Archaeologists have discovered what they believe to be a Roman shrine buried beneath a former graveyard next to Leicester Cathedral.

The cathedral closed in January 2022 to allow for the construction of a visitor and learning centre. During excavations, which have been carried out as part of the £12.7m project, thousands of finds have been uncovered.

It is hoped some of them will be displayed in the new centre.

The finds include a broken altar base, which was discovered in what would have been the basement of a large Roman building close to the external wall of the modern cathedral.

"There's always been a tradition that the cathedral was built on a Roman temple, based on antiquarian discoveries in the 19th Century," said Mathew Morris, excavation director for the University of Leicester's Archaeological Services (ULAS) which carried out the dig.

"We're now finding a Roman building that looks like it had a shrine status to it. There are no tests that can prove what it was. That it was a shrine is the most likely theory, but there aren't really any others."

He added he believed it was likely used as part of a shrine to a god like Mithra, Dionysus or Isis.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-64840494
 
A find which will help archaeologists to expand their knowledge of the liminal period between the fall of the Roman Empire in britain and the establishment of the first Anglo-Saxon Kingdom.

Skeletal remains of a high-status Roman woman encased in a lead coffin have been unearthed at a hidden cemetery dating back 1,600 years.

Described as a "once-in-a-lifetime find", the female remains were discovered along with 60 other bodies at the site in Garforth, Leeds.

The skeletons are believed to include both late Roman and early Saxon men, women and children.

It is thought to be the first Anglo-Saxon cemetery found in West Yorkshire.

Burials found at the cemetery
IMAGE SOURCE, WEST YORKSHIRE JOINT SERVICES/LEEDS CITY COUNCIL Image caption, A process known as carbon-14 dating will help determine a precise age of the remains

The lead coffin and skeleton
IMAGE SOURCE, WEST YORKSHIRE JOINT SERVICES/LEEDS CITY COUNCIL Image caption, Several archaeologists worked for weeks excavating the site and removing the lead coffin

The cemetery was discovered as part of a standard archaeological survey on the site, which had been earmarked for development.
Experts said the fact the coffin had been made out of lead signified the skeleton was someone of importance.

David Hunter, principal archaeologist for West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service, said: "Lead coffins were expensive. The fact the family gave this person the expense of getting sheets of lead and the expertise to make the coffin, then it tells us a lot."

Other burial practices found in the cemetery indicate early Christian beliefs as well as Saxon burials, which were accompanied by personal possessions such as knives and pottery.

Mr Hunter said: "At Garforth we've got the Roman graves which are roughly east west in alignment and the Saxon graves which are north south in alignment, so the differences stand out like a sore thumb."

Archaeologists who worked on the excavation hope the site can help chart the largely undocumented and historically-important transition between the fall of the Roman Empire in about 400AD and the establishment of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that followed. ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-64917979
 
Don't Diss This Find.

A tiny fragment of gilded silver treasure found by a keen detectorist has left experts baffled.

The late Roman-era 1in (26mm) by 0.5in (13mm) piece was found near Diss, Norfolk, in February 2022 but no-one can work out what it was part of. Experts in the UK and Europe have been consulted but cannot solve the mystery.

Dr Helen Geake, Norfolk's county finds liaison officer, said: "The most basic question of all is, 'what was this?' ... it's a bit frustrating."

Roman gilded silver fragment
IMAGE SOURCE, ANDREW WILLIAMS/NORFOLK COUNTY COUNCIL The thin fragment was discovered by a detectorist who regularly reports his finds to the Portable Antiquities Scheme.
Dr Geake said: "It is at the high end of silver-smithing in the Roman world and part of the sort of thing that would have been produced and used across the whole of Roman Empire, from Egypt to Hadrian's Wall, from Morocco to Hungary.

"But what is it? If we can't find a parallel already in a collection, we can't say what it was or what it was part of."

The British Museum, the National Museum of Scotland and experts in Europe have been consulted.

"I hope someone gets in touch with the answer," Dr Geake added.

The last time she appealed for help with a mysterious object she was contacted on Twitter by someone who had the solution. ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-65044932
 
ramonmercado said:
A find which will help archaeologists to expand their knowledge of the liminal period between the fall of the Roman Empire in britain and the establishment of the first Anglo-Saxon Kingdom.

Skeletal remains of a high-status Roman woman encased in a lead coffin have been unearthed at a hidden cemetery dating back 1,600 years.

Described as a "once-in-a-lifetime find", the female remains were discovered along with 60 other bodies at the site in Garforth, Leeds.

The skeletons are believed to include both late Roman and early Saxon men, women and children.

It is thought to be the first Anglo-Saxon cemetery found in West Yorkshire.

Burials found at the cemetery
IMAGE SOURCE, WEST YORKSHIRE JOINT SERVICES/LEEDS CITY COUNCIL Image caption, A process known as carbon-14 dating will help determine a precise age of the remains

The lead coffin and skeleton
IMAGE SOURCE, WEST YORKSHIRE JOINT SERVICES/LEEDS CITY COUNCIL Image caption, Several archaeologists worked for weeks excavating the site and removing the lead coffin

The cemetery was discovered as part of a standard archaeological survey on the site, which had been earmarked for development.
Experts said the fact the coffin had been made out of lead signified the skeleton was someone of importance.

David Hunter, principal archaeologist for West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service, said: "Lead coffins were expensive. The fact the family gave this person the expense of getting sheets of lead and the expertise to make the coffin, then it tells us a lot."

Other burial practices found in the cemetery indicate early Christian beliefs as well as Saxon burials, which were accompanied by personal possessions such as knives and pottery.

Mr Hunter said: "At Garforth we've got the Roman graves which are roughly east west in alignment and the Saxon graves which are north south in alignment, so the differences stand out like a sore thumb."

Archaeologists who worked on the excavation hope the site can help chart the largely undocumented and historically-important transition between the fall of the Roman Empire in about 400AD and the establishment of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that followed. ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-64917979
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Those skeletons look in really good nick.

I think a lot of the problem is the soil. There must have been thousands of cemetaries all over the country, but finding any evidence must rely on the soil not just rotting away all the contents so there's nothing to see but some grave cuts and the odd trace.
 
1679753045033.png

I'm going to take a guess and say that it was an apprentice jeweller's test piece, used for testing some punches that he had made himself.
It appears to have been done on a scrap of silver. He probably couldn't melt it down again because he'd gilded it.
Even though an unfinished piece, it would have still had monetary value.
 
Lost and found fort. This story also illustrates the importance of records kept by antiquarians.

The remains of a Roman fortlet have been discovered in West Dunbartonshire.

New technology has enabled the archaeology team at Historic Environment Scotland (HES) to uncover the structure after attempts to find it failed in the 1970s and 1980s. The fortlet once stood next to the Antonine Wall. Its buried remains have now been uncovered in a field close to Carleith Primary School in Duntocher, Clydebank.

HES announced the breakthrough on World Heritage Day, the international celebration of cultural heritage. The Antonine Wall was the frontier that the Romans constructed across central Scotland, and is one of Scotland's six Unesco World Heritage Sites. Details of the fortlet were thought lost for hundreds of years.

It was referenced in 1707 by antiquarian Robert Sibbald, who wrote that he had seen a fortlet in the area around Carleith Farm. Excavation teams looked for it decades ago, but the exact location remained unknown.

After employing gradiometry, a geophysical surveying technique which looks under the soil without the need for excavation, the discovery was made. The technique measures small changes in the earth's magnetic field to detect archaeological features otherwise invisible from the ground surface. It allowed archaeologists to identify the stone base of the fortlet, which remains buried underground. On top of this base, turf would have been laid to build a rampart about 2 metres high.

This fortlet would have been part of several along the Antonine Wall. In its prime, it would have been occupied by 10 to 12 Roman soldiers who were stationed at a larger fort nearby, likely to be Duntocher. They would have manned the fort for a week at a time before being replaced by another detachment. The fortlet would have been made up of two small wooden buildings to house the soldiers staying there and will have been used for the 20 years (142 CE - 162 CE) that the Antonine Wall was defended as the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire. ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-65309762
 
It annoyed Seneca.

A team of archaeologists has found that our obsession with hair removal can be traced back to Roman times.

Archaeologists working in Wroxeter Roman City, in Shropshire, England, have discovered a huge collection of over 50 tweezers at the settlement that dates from the 2nd to 4th century CE.

They also discovered a skin scraper, perfume bottles, jewelry, and make-up applicators – showing just how important personal hygiene and beauty were to the Romans.

English Heritage has said that the hair removal practices were just as routine for men as they were for women, noting that men who would engage in sports like wrestling would be expected to remove their body hair.

Cameron Moffett, English Heritage Curator at Wroxeter Roman City, a new museum that opened last week, told The Times that you "had to have the look. And the look was hairlessness, particularly the underarms."

In Roman times the hair-plucking rituals were often performed by slaves, with English Heritage sharing a letter from Roman author and politician Seneca, who complained of the yelps people would let out whilst being plucked, saying "the skinny armpit hair-plucker whose cries are shrill, so as to draw people's attention, and never stop, except when he is doing his job and making someone else shriek for him."

https://www.sciencealert.com/discov...als-ancient-roman-obsession-with-hair-removal
 
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