'Roman cosmetics' found at ancient dig

Reuters ^ | Monday, July 28, 2003

[presidio9]

Archaeologists excavating the site of a major Roman temple in London have found a sealed box containing a white cream still bearing the fingermarks of the person who last used it, nearly 2,000 years ago.

"This is of major significance," said Museum of London curator Francis Grew on Monday.

[rabidralph]

Smelling 'cheesy' Museum conservator Liz Barham who opened the fist-sized cylindrical tin box for the first time on Monday, in front of the world's media, described the smell from the half-full container as "sulphurous" and "cheesy."

Gotta be Helen Thomas' make-up kit.

[presidio9]

Gotta be Helen Thomas' make-up kit.

Thanks for inserting "I wonder what she looks like without her makeup" into my head.

[AnAmericanMother]

My bet's on a white lead concoction used as a facial cosmetic. That would survive indefinitely - lead carbonate and lead hydroxide are basically stable and would last more or less forever if sealed up. Should be easily determined by analysis.

Otherwise, just the Ancient Roman equivalent of "Oil of Olay". The ancient literature (especially Ovid and Martial and other social satirists) is full of accounts of the various cosmetics used by women, including lots of face creams and "unguents." And I'll bet after a couple thousand years a jar of ANY oil or fat would smell a bit funky . . .

[ffusco]

Londinium Bump

[DittoJed2]

Too bad they are covering it up with a shopping complex.

[Clara Lou]

Really interesting. Thanks for the post.

[mhking]

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[bedolido]

Mary Kay just died a few years ago... maybe she's older than we thought.

[Cyber Liberty]

Dude! I had no idea the volume of strange stuff was that high!

Please remove me from the list. It's a great list, but I have to be right on top of "My Comments" in order to keep up, and I haven't been FReeping enough of late to keep the list clear......

[Mind-numbed Robot]

...could be face cream or even face paint, he told reporters.

Or an early version of Preparation H.

[najida]

Nice to see MAC, one of the best cosmetic lines out there.

[mhking]

Nice to see MAC, one of the best cosmetic lines out there.

My cousin works for them in Dayton...

[Prof Engineer]

Roman ping

[CathyRyan]

PING

[commish]

Tammy Faye Bakker has inquired into the availability of the cosmetics for her collection.

[Charles Henrickson]

Helen of Thomas: The face that launched a thousand quips.

[Slicksadick]

smell from the half-full container as "sulphurous" and "cheesy."

Sounds like this may be the original culture for old crusty.

[rabidralph]

Thanks for inserting "I wonder what she looks like without her makeup" into my head.

My pleasure. Be sure to work the sentence into a conversation before the day is out.

[blam]

Thanks for the ping.