Scientists discovered a 4,000-year-old lipstick whose ingredients are similar to today's

According to legend, about 5,000 years ago, the Sumerians living in the Mesopotamian region crushed red gems and used them to decorate their faces, mainly around their lips and eyes. This was the earliest primitive version of lipstick.

The Egyptians were the first to crush cochineal insects and apply the juice to their lips , such as Cleopatra; in ancient Indian civilization, people used rectangular ochre tablets with inclined planes at the ends as lipstick.

Cleopatra painted by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (Image source: wiki)

It can be seen that lipstick has a very long history. Recently, scientists discovered a small tube of something similar to lipstick in the southeastern region of Iran. After identification, it was found that it was about 4,000 years old, and its appearance and composition were very similar to the current lipstick.

Looted artifacts

The archaeological remains investigated by scientists this time were first discovered in 2001. At that time, the Khalil River flooded the nearby basin. After the river receded, several ancient tombs surfaced. People frantically searched for treasures, which once led to the loss of thousands of precious cultural relics.

Later, some precious stone and copper artifacts were recovered and properly collected. Archaeologists are still unclear about the exact origin and age of these artifacts, but their style shows that most of them are earlier than the local Early Bronze Age .

The artifacts were unearthed in the Jiroft area of ​​Kerman Province in south-central Iran (left), where many historical relics were discovered (Image source: wiki)

Scientists speculate that this newly discovered civilization is likely the ancient "Marhasi" regime mentioned in the cuneiform documents of the Mesopotamian civilization of the same period, which dates back to the late Copper Age to the early Bronze Age (approximately 3500-1800 BC).

Lipstick from 4,000 years ago

Among these artifacts, the one that most interests scientists is a cylindrical vial made of light green chlorite with exquisite carvings on it.

It is similar in style to other chlorite artifacts, but its size and shape are completely different from the others and are not similar to any similar objects currently known.

A chlorite vial that has aroused the interest of archaeologists (Image source: Reference [2])

The craftsmanship of this vial is very complex, and the cross-section is very beautifully decorated. From the side, it looks a bit like a piece of sugar cane. This slender vial can be easily held in one hand together with the handle of the bronze mirror.

Archaeologists have discovered a papyrus fragment dating back to the 12th century BC in Egypt, which depicts a young woman holding a round mirror in her right hand and a slender cylindrical cosmetic bottle in her left hand, applying makeup on her lips with a long-handled brush. This discovery has led people to associate the two bottles together, and it is speculated that it may be something similar to lipstick .

Scientists used X-ray and organic component analysis to determine the composition of the objects in the vial, and used radiocarbon analysis to determine the age of the pigment.

This image shows the mineralogy of lipstick, enhanced with false colors. The red layers are hematite, and the purple fragments are quartz grains (Image source: Reference [2])

It was finally discovered that the substance in the vial was mainly composed of hematite ( Fe2O3 ), others included quartz (SiO2), brown manganese ore, anglerite, and trace amounts of galena, etc.

Scientists also found some broken plant fibers in it, speculating that this might be the source of the aromatic ingredients .

The high content of hematite brings a strong red color , while the quartz particles can be used as a paste blender or even as glitter. There are also some ingredients that are designed to deepen the overly bright red of hematite , such as a brown-black manganese silicate and a gray-black manganese oxide.

Quartz was added to lipstick to make it look shiny and even now, quartz is a common additive in lipstick (Image source: ecco verde)

According to the analysis of organic ingredients, the paste contains various plant waxes, phospholipid derivatives, glycerol and unsaturated fatty acids, all of which come from plants. The purpose may be to shape the paste and allow other minerals to blend together.

To the scientists' surprise, the red mineral and wax ingredients were very similar to modern lipstick formulas.

Ancient Iranian foundation, eye shadow, and eyebrow powder contained large amounts of lead, but the newly discovered cosmetics contain only very small amounts of lead-containing minerals, suggesting that cosmetic manufacturers at the time may have been aware of the potential dangers of ingesting lead directly through the mouth.

Carbon-14 dating shows that this exquisite cosmetic was made between 1963 and 1687 BC. However, scientists said that considering the long-standing makeup technology and aesthetic traditions in ancient Iran, this ancient date does not surprise them.

Ancient Iranians who loved beauty

In previous archaeological excavations, scientists discovered lead-based cosmetics in small stone pots in the Kerman region in south-central Iran, the Sistan region in the east, and the central plateau. Their colors were mainly green, blue, white and other colors. Researchers speculated that their main uses were foundation or eye shadow, as well as black eyeliner , ranging from 4000 BC to 1000 BC.

Some cosmetic containers unearthed in ancient Egypt and Iran (Image source: wiki)

But there has been no evidence of when people developed deep red for lips, or which pigments were first used to color lips , and scientists have been curious about whether people were aware of the dangers of oral lead intake as a cosmetic.

The discovery of the lipstick bottle provided scientists with many clues.

Scientists also discovered that the body of the lipstick bottle was made from local materials, because there are abundant metamorphic rocks in the western part of the Khalil Basin, including chlorite that makes up the bottle body.

The Khalil River Basin is located in the area marked by the rectangle. There are volcanic rocks such as diorite and granite in the east, limestone in the south, and metamorphic rocks such as chlorite and marble in the west (Image source: Reference [2])

Cosmetics are an important branch of ancient metallurgy, but past studies have often overlooked this part because they were considered "secondary female things." But in places like ancient Egypt, ancient Iran, and Mesopotamia, people's appearance was a reflection of social class, and both men and women used cosmetics.

Some small makeup pots and other cosmetics unearthed in Iran indicate that over a long period of time, social stratification had been formed in several early cities in ancient Iran , and makeup was an important way to show people's social roles.

Bust of Nefertiti (an Egyptian queen) with eyeliner (Source: wiki)

The cosmetics also tell scientists that people believed social roles continued after death , as reflected in grave goods and the decoration of the deceased.

The identity of the owner of the lipstick bottle is still difficult to confirm. Scientists believe that if she is a woman, it can be speculated that the continuous advancement of cosmetic technology may be driven by the increasing social pressure on women .

Or from another perspective, this may also indicate that in ancient Iran, women's public image was equally important and they also had a certain public authority.

References

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipstick#cite_ref-2

[2]Eskandari, N., De Carlo, E., Zorzi, F. et al. A Bronze Age lip-paint from southeastern Iran. Sci Rep 14, 2670 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-52490-w

[3]https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/style/t_w_1539_face_lips_.html

[4]https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-ancient-vial-of-mineral-pigment-could-be-the-oldest-lipstick-ever-found-180983803/

Planning and production

Source: Bringing Science Home (id: steamforkids)

Author: Ziv

Editor: Zhong Yanping

Proofread by Xu Lailinlin