Cavemen removed hair from their head and face to prevent mites and other insects from forming nests and laying eggs in their hair. How, you ask? Without the means to create a razor, cavemen had to get creative. They scraped off their hair with a sharpened rock or a seashell.
11,000 BCE
Men used sharp rocks and shells to shave off the longer hairs. Cave drawings from the period found in modern-day Ukraine depict men with short stubble.
They could theoretically have used a flint edge to trim them, or a rough stone to file them down. However, we don't have any firm evidence of 'cavemanicure' at all, since no fingernails or toenails survive from any Stone Age burial sites.
But the majority of researchers today posit that reduced body hair had to do with thermoregulation — specifically, with keeping cool. The core argument is: During some evolutionary phase after our ancestors became bipeds, they were regularly walking or running in open, drier habitats.
It is believed that Stone Age men started shaving 100,000 years ago by using clam shells like tweezers and pulling out their beard hair. About 60,000 years ago, man discovered shaving, and started using sharpened obsidian and clam shells to shave their beards.
1. Cave People Did Shave! People usually believe that prehistoric people were excessively hairy. But as it turns out, cavemen did remove body hair, just not for aesthetic reasons.
The practice of removing female body hair is not new, it can be traced back to ancient Rome and Egypt. Some of the first razors, made of copper, were used in Egypt and India around 3000 BCE. Egyptian women removed their head hair and considered pubic hair uncivilized.
Cavemen chewed on sticks to clean their teeth and even used grass stalks to pick in between their teeth. Without the availability of high-quality toothbrushes and toothpaste, however, cavemen's teeth were more susceptible to cavities and decay, even with a healthy, carbohydrate-free diet.
You see, the women of the Red Yao tribe have some of the longest hair in the world – as in their hair is almost the same length as their height!
David Iltis and Dr. Stephen Wooding, calculate that the last sweep probably occurred 1.2 million years ago, when the human population consisted of a mere 14,000 breeding individuals. In other words, humans have been hairless at least since this time, and maybe for much longer.
There is little evidence of the first appearances of the hair brush as we know it today. However, the first use of the comb dates back to 5000 years ago, and as the brush, it had the main function of cleaning the hair. In its most primitive versions, it was made with bones, ivory and then with wood and metals.
Before the invention of the modern nail clipper, people would use small knives to trim or pare their nails. Descriptions of nail trimming in literature date as far back as the 8th century BC.
They hibernated, according to fossil experts. Evidence from bones found at one of the world's most important fossil sites suggests that our hominid predecessors may have dealt with extreme cold hundreds of thousands of years ago by sleeping through the winter.
some slaves wore their hair long and bushy on top and ...others cut it short, or combed and parted it neatly, or shaved it at the back or at the front, or trimmed it to a roll.
Roman Empire
Early Romans viewed lack of body hair as a symbol of high class citizens. Many paintings and sculptures of ancient Roman women reveal that even pubic hair was removed. Hair removal was done via flint razors, tweezers, creams and stones.
Three types of cutting equipment were available to ancient Egyptian hairstylists: the razor, the “composite tool” (a combination of scissors and hair‐curler) and the comb. Of these, the razor was the main implement used for cutting the hair.
Certain races have higher rates of hair loss compared to others. Caucasians have the highest rates out of all the ethnic groups. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Native American Indians, Inuits, and Chinese have the lowest rates.
Caucasian hair is generally straight or wavy and is the thinnest, while its cross-section is relatively elliptic. As for African hair, it is very curly, its thickness is intermediate and the shape of cross-section is highly elliptic.
Black people have the lowest growth rate of hair but the highest eumelanin content. Breakage is increased or faster in this hair type. This group also has smaller hair cuticles than other ethnicities.
Wealthy Brits did not hesitate to indulge their sweet tooth, and it was no different for the monarch, Queen Elizabeth I. The queen was especially fond of sweets, but not so fond of the dentist. Her teeth rotted; they turned black and gave off a foul odor.
Prolonged time without brushing your teeth can cause tooth decay and gum disease to become more advanced, which can lead to receding gums and even tooth loss. Additional issues, including a higher risk for the onset of Alzheimer's disease, can be linked to high levels of unchecked bacteria in the mouth.
The Link Between Evolution and Mental Health
Food wasn't readily available, nor was finding a partner for reproduction. The pressures of survival and reproduction were high. Because of that, evolutionary psychologists believe that early humans did experience mental health issues like depression and anxiety.
Pubic hair removal is common — approximately 80 percent of women ages 18 to 65 report they remove some or all of their pubic hair.
About 67% of women said they do it because they feel more feminine, 63% said they like to feel soft, and 62% said their partner liked it. Women who didn't shave said they opt out because of the side effects, like itching and bumps, or because their partner prefers them not to.