In the modern world women use different colors and sizes of hair extensions to look attractive. However, hair extensions are not something new as archaeologists excavating in the Egyptian city of Amarna have discovered a 3,300-year-old skull of a woman, which has hair extensions.
Jolanda Bos, who is an archaeologist and working for the project, revealed that the identity of the woman remains unknown but she had 70 lengthy and elaborate hair extensions. The woman was not mummified but was buried wrapped in a mat.
Bos also suggests that the hairstyle was presumably done after the woman died. However, it is also likely that the woman used to have such a hairstyle even when she was alive.
"Whether or not the woman had her hair styled like this for her burial only is one of our main research questions," says Bos. "The hair was most likely styled after death, before a person was buried. It is also likely, however, that these hairstyles were used in everyday life as well and that the people in Amarna used hair extensions in their daily life."
Researchers believe that ancient Egyptians were quite fashion conscious and also used hair gel in everyday life. Researchers have also found that ancient Egyptians used gel on both long and short hair and also used tongs to curl them.
The ancient Egyptians may have also styled the hair of corpses so that they looked good in the afterlife.
The archaeologists have found around 100 skulls but only 28 of them had hair. The researchers reveal that the hair on the skulls varied from black to dark brown indicating ethnic diversity in the region.
Bos is also researching on the hairstyles of the people in the region. She revealed that other skulls she had found also had hair extensions. One of the skulls she examined had black as well as gray hair, which may have been donated by others.
Bos also revealed that people were conscious about graying hair as one of the skulls she examined had orange color on graying hair, suggesting that the woman used some sort of dye, possibly henna, to hide the gray hair.
The researchers suggest that the find of hair extensions on a 3,300-year-old skull is important as it can shed light on some of the other interesting lifestyles of the ancients.
