Hairstyles

[Gladius]

I was wondering why men of the barbarian tribes like the Gauls grew their hair long while Roman men had theirs short. Could anyone explain why this was so? I heard someone say that long hair looks better on fair-skinned men than dark ones, so perhaps this may explain it in terms of appearance. Or did this have a more practical reason in that the Romans preferred having their hair short so as to not be disadvantaged in battle by having their hair in considerable lengths? Thanks.

[Carlton Bach]

Given that long hair was also fashionable at various times in Rome, I would put it down to tradition and culture. Long hair has often been seen as a sign of vigour and, given the care it takes, status. This may be behind the barbarian fashion for long hair (also temporary, as I would point out - several bog bodies wear their hair short. It is in Roman art that barbarians are always long-haired)

Roman soldiers most likely wore their hair short(-ish) for practical reasons. Long hair has so many ways of painfully getting caught in helmets, between armour and carrying straps, and in all kings of other places that it must have been very tiresome to have it on campaign, especially in cramped quarters. Few barbarians carried as much stuff or worked as much as the average legionary.

[Gladius]

Thanks Carlton. I'd like to ask: what do you mean by "bog bodies"?.

[Carlton Bach]

Thanks Carlton. I'd like to ask: what do you mean by "bog bodies"?.

North Eurpoean peat bogs contain high concentrations of tannic acid, and dead bodies sunk in them are opften remarkably well preserved (not infrequently including their clothes). Skin, hair, and connective tissues as well as wool and leather survive while muscle, bone, mucous membranes, but also linen, decay. There is now a selection available ranging from the Bronze Age to the 18th century, and several well-preserved specimens of the Roman and post-Roman Iron Age have been recovered and analysed. Some of the most interesting ones are at the Natl Museum in Copenhagen, the State Museum in Schleswig, and one place in the Netherlands, I don't recall where.

[FAVENTIANVS]

The Tollund man, Denmark, Circa 4th Century b.C.

[Arthes]

Greetings,
The Drent Museum in Assen, Holland has Yde Girl, who makes me very sad when I see her poor face as it is now and how it really was.
[url:2v7n4gof]http://www.mummytombs.com/museums/nl.assen.drents.yde.reconstruct.htm[/url]
At the top of this page is the reconstructed head of a Roman soldier found in a well [url:2v7n4gof]http://www.trimontium.freeserve.co.uk/news205.html[/url]
regards
Arthes

[Tarbicus]

At the top of this page is the reconstructed head of a Roman soldier found in a well [url:2zkbwcq4]http://www.trimontium.freeserve.co.uk/news205.html[/url]

Arthes, here's another photo of the Roman heads: Soldier's Head Reconstruction, Trimontium Exhibition

[FAVENTIANVS]

How come do they know he was bald, just with the skull?

[Arthes]

At the top of this page is the reconstructed head of a Roman soldier found in a well [url:ghuj4158]http://www.trimontium.freeserve.co.uk/news205.html[/url]

Arthes, here's another photo of the Roman heads: Soldier's Head Reconstruction, Trimontium Exhibition

Thanks Tarby,
thats a clearer likeness... I wonder where he came from originally,
The Infantry and Cavalry based there were Legio XX vv and Ala Vocontiorum from Gallia Narbonensis in Gaul....
[url:ghuj4158]http://www.roman-britain.org/places/trimontium.htm[/url]
He wouldn't look out of place walking through the shopping precinct hereabouts.
I wondered about his baldness too Faventianus, maybe there was some evidence of hair on the side still, but not on top?
What I would like to know, what was he doing in the well :? ?
and [url:ghuj4158]http://www.trimontium.freeserve.co.uk/man.html[/url]
regards
Arthes

[Tarbicus]

I wonder where he came from originally,

From under the ground.

boom boom :roll:

[Gladius]

Thanks for the replies all.

[tlclark]

Carlton Bach said:

It is in Roman art that barbarians are always long-haired

Absolutely right, in fact, no matter which monument it is, nearly all Roman enemies look the same, whether Parthian or Celt, they all have the same clothes and hairstyle.

Travis

[NightHunter24]

Maaan, it's amazing what technology is able to reproduce nowadays. Pretty soon they'll probable start cloning actual Romans... :lol:

FAVENTIANVS touched on a good point...does DNA reveal every feature of what a person would have looked like or are many of these re-constructions purely conjectural?


NH24

[Arthes]

Maaan, it's amazing what technology is able to reproduce nowadays. Pretty soon they'll probable start cloning actual Romans... :lol:

What I really want to know is, if you clone a Roman will he still have the memory of a Roman or is it wiped clean. If you do not teach him, will he automatically start talking in Latin...?
He has no ancestral heritage in the intermediate 2000 years or so, so his thoughts and instincts should still be that of his previous existance..?
I thought DNA was the ingredient needed to clone, so in theory it should build a perfect replica with all inherited bits and bobs at the time...they are trying to reproduce a mammoth too aren't they...which I am longing to see...!

Absolutely right, in fact, no matter which monument it is, nearly all Roman enemies look the same, whether Parthian or Celt, they all have the same clothes and hairstyle.

We could say the same about the Romans too..... :wink:
It is possibly just to distinguish the 'barbarian' with long hair and trousers, regardless of where he came from. Although some of the 'barbarians' did wear their hair long!
regards
Arthes

[FAVENTIANVS]

Maaan, it's amazing what technology is able to reproduce nowadays. Pretty soon they'll probable start cloning actual Romans... :lol:

FAVENTIANVS touched on a good point...does DNA reveal every feature of what a person would have looked like or are many of these re-constructions purely conjectural?


NH24

Well, the baldness gene is a recessive one placed in the X chromosome. Due to its recessiveness, is has to be double expressed (XX, not to have a dominant counterpart that would make hair grow) making it less probable to occur in women, because in men, XY, the Y chromosome, being shorter, doesn't have that locus, and so, no counter order to make hair grow.