OXFORD, ENGLAND—Tools in ancient Roman beauty kits may have been used to treat the symptoms of trachoma, a leading cause of blindness even today. The bacteria Chlamydia trachomatis roughens the inner surface of the eyelid and causes the eyelashes to turn inward, scraping and damaging the cornea. “We have ethnographic examples from modern Africa and historical examples from ancient India that show utensils, such as tweezers and rasps, were used to pluck in-turned eyelashes and to scour away the afflicted eyelids,” said Wendy Morrison of the University of Oxford. She thinks that the Romans may have also used tweezers to pluck irritating eyelashes, what had been thought of as nail cleaners to scrape growths off eyelids, “cosmetic grinders” to make eye salves, and “earwax scoops” to apply medicine to eyes.
Roman Beauty Tools May Have Been Used to Treat Eye Disease
News April 18, 2013
Recommended Articles
Features November/December 2024
Let the Games Begin
How gladiators in ancient Anatolia lived to entertain the masses
Features November/December 2024
The Many Faces of the Kingdom of Shu
Thousands of fantastical bronzes are beginning to reveal the secrets of a legendary Chinese dynasty
Digs & Discoveries November/December 2024
Egyptian Crocodile Hunt
Digs & Discoveries November/December 2024
Monuments to Youth
-
Features March/April 2013
Pirates of the Original Panama Canal
Searching for the remains of Captain Henry Morgan's raid on Panama City
(Courtesy Captain Morgan Rum Co.) -
Features March/April 2013
A Soldier's Story
The battle that changed European history, told through the lens of a young man’s remains
(Courtesy Dominique Bosquet) -
Letter From Cambodia March/April 2013
The Battle Over Preah Vihear
A territorial dispute involving a 1,100-year-old Khmer temple on the Thai-Cambodian border turns violent
(Masuru Goto) -
Artifacts March/April 2013
Pottery Cooking Balls
Scientific analyses and experimental archaeology determine that mysterious, 1,000-year-old balls of clay found at Yucatán site were used in cooking
(Courtesy Bolonchen Regional Archaeological Project)