Male Cosmetics from 2700 Years Ago Unearthed in China

Oldest Case of Male Cosmetics Use Found at Shanxi Province Liu Jiawa Site by China-Germany Excavation Team

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] Male cosmetics believed to have been used 2,700 years ago were discovered in an ancient Chinese tomb.

On the 11th, according to New Scientist and other scientific sources, an excavation team composed of Chinese and German scholars recently unearthed a male facial cream believed to have been used 2,700 years ago in a tomb at the Liu Jiawa site in Chengcheng, Shanxi Province. The results of the investigation into this artifact were published in the January issue of the international archaeology journal Archaeometry.

Humans have used cosmetics for thousands of years to adorn or color their bodies. Cosmetics used 2,000 years ago were found in Egypt, and female cosmetics estimated to have been made around 1450 BC were also discovered in China. This recent discovery is considered by archaeologists to be the oldest evidence that Chinese men also used cosmetics long ago.

The excavation site where the team is working has yielded artifacts from between 771 BC and 476 BC, the period known as the "Spring and Autumn Period." The team found bronze weapons and jars buried as funerary objects, and inside one of these jars, they discovered a soft yellowish-white substance believed to have been used as facial cream.

Analysis confirmed that this substance was made approximately 2,700 years ago and consisted of animal fat and moonmilk (a type of carbonated clay found in caves). The excavation team suggests that users at the time mixed these two materials to create the cream, which was likely used either to stand out compared to commoners or for religious ceremonies.

Meanwhile, the Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology recently announced that excavations at this site since 2016 have confirmed it as the capital of the late Yeguo (芮國) period. Structures made of rammed earth, city walls, waterways, and tombs have been excavated here, and this was confirmed through inscriptions on bronze artifacts.