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Isotopic palaeodietary analysis was first applied to archaeological hair by White and co-workers looking at mummy hair from naturally desiccated Sudanese Nubian mummies, representing X-group (AD 350–550) and Christian periods (AD 550– 1300) from the Wadi Halfa area of present day Sudan.46 Similar work is also underway for samples from South American mummies.47,48
Analysis of d13C values from the Nubian hair provided the first direct archaeological evidence that the modern crop rotation system in N. Sudan has its origins in ancient times. Extrapolating seasonality data on crop cycling from serial measurements along Nubian hair it was found that overall seasonal mortality patterns (defined by the proximal hair root segments) corresponded well with the hot dry Nubian summer that would be demanding of both plant and human physiology.46,49 Recent reevaluation of this data reinforces the opinion that the populace were consuming crops soon after they were harvested with only limited use of stored grains and that this pattern persisted for more than 1000 years.50 This seasonal isotopic variation in hair excavated from the Nilotic sites of the Wadi Halfa group, was contrasted with hair from individuals from the Kharga Oasis, Egypt (AD 400–700). The individuals from the Kharga Oasis showed seasonal stability of carbon isotopic data and consequently a seasonally uniform diet reflecting the stable ecology of the oasis environment.51
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14.6 A Record of Drug Use in Archaeological Hair Samples
Humans have exploited the hallucinogenic properties of certain plants for thousands of years. The Inca, for instance, controlled the use of coca106 and its association with ritual is clear from the carbonised fragments of coca leaves that have been identified from ritual vessels107 and that have been found with sacrificial capacocha victims in high elevation shrines108,109 and with the coca metabolites that have been found to be present in their hair.106 Coca leaves have also been found in funerary contexts that predate the Inca, as in the Osmore valley, Peru. Drug analysis in hair has developed extensively in the last two decades with the forensic assessment of drugs of abuse,110–112 therapeutic drug monitoring113,114 and use of sports doping controls115–118 (see also Chapter 4 in this volume). Despite the now widespread use of hair in drug analysis there remain issues concerning the differential binding of drugs to hair, as a function of pigmentation differences in hair.119 Heavily pigmented Negroid type hair is considered more susceptible to uptake of drugs than bleached or blond Caucasoid type hair.120 Similarly, individuals with greying hair have differential uptake of drugs between pigmented and grey hair fibres.121 However, hair pigmentation is just one variable that may affect drug incorporation, with different drugs expressing different affinities for melanin.122 With forensic casework it has also been necessary to exhume individuals and determine the quantities of drugs that may have been used or administered. For example, morphine was found in serial hair sections taken from a Greek woman exhumed seven months post-mortem,123 similarly morphine was found in hair from two Italian women exhumed seven months after burial124 and cocaine and lidocaine were detected in scalp and pubic hair from a man and a woman exhumed after seven and two months burial respectively.125
The first analysis of drugs from ancient hair investigated coca use in 163 individuals representing 7 different cultures from South America. Of those tested, 76 tested positive for benzoylecgonine (BZE) a stable metabolic product of cocaine.126,127 Attempts to characterise drugs in hair samples from Egyptian and Peruvian remains at the Museum fu¨r Vo¨ lkerkunde, Munich, Germany during the early 1990s128–135 have largely been discredited because the results were implausible in the light of archaeological knowledge. Their discoveries proved astonishing – cocaine and nicotine (both New World drugs) found in the hair of Old World Egyptian mummies, and hashish (an Old World drug) found in the hair of New World Peruvian mummies. The controversies that were generated by these results have been discussed widely both in the popular media136,137 and the academic literature138–140 [Table 14.1]. The claims of the Munich-based researchers, whilst widely disputed, withdrew considerable confidence from the emerging field of drug analysis in ancient hair.67 The explanations of the presence of New World drugs in Egyptian mummies ignored not only the post-excavation histories of these remains, but also the native origins of the plants from which the drugs are derived.140 More recently, the controversies surrounding drug testing in archaeological hair have subsided as further systematic studies emerge for a range of drug types6,67,141 including nicotine142 and alcohol.143 The absence of evidence for drugs in the hair of nineteen Formative period mummies from Chile was interpreted as either demonstrating that those individuals in the survey group did not use drugs or that despite the wide range of known drugs analysed (cocaine, opiates, cannabis), the analyses did not consider some groupspecific drugs derived from local or imported plants.5 Further work in hair from three archaeological sites in N. Chile has produced evidence of the hallucinogenic substances harmaline, tetrahydroharmine, dimethyltriptamine and bufotenine that supports a wider knowledge of plant-based substances in pre-Columbian South America.144
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14.9 Hair Grooming Practice and Cosmetic Treatment
The use of cosmetics and hair care products is not unique to modern society.170 Traces of hair colourants such as henna have been identified from ancient samples dating back to roughly 3500 BC.171 With the development of the pharmaceutical industry during the 19th century a whole host of products designed for use with hair began to be marketed (Figure 14.4). Not all traces of substances found in hair relate to cosmetic treatment in vivo. Traces of materials clearly related to the process of artificial mummification were identified from samples of 21st Dynasty Egyptian mummy hair (1080–946 BC) using FTIR microscopy and these substances included dammar, tragacanth and myrrh.172 Elemental mapping of hair from two Egyptian mummies using microfocus synchrotron techniques showed a marked heterogeneous distribution that was interpreted as being related to mummification and cosmetic treatments.173 Scanning electron microscopy was used to suggest that Lindow Man’s hair was cut using some form of cutting tweezers or shears.174 Furthermore, variation in ancient hairstyles has been studied in early Iron Age Danish bog bodies,175 samples from Roman Poundbury, UK176 and hair/human hair wigs from ancient Egypt.171 Not unsurprisingly the presence of ectoparasites has been noted on ancient samples of hair in Egypt177 and elsewhere throughout the world.178,179
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14.10 Hair Stylistic Information and Symbolism
In addition to the scientific potential of archaeological hair, it is important to recognise the importance of hair to past societies. Hair and hair pieces have been used to denote sex, status and power, as in the sophisticated use of braids in hair from male individuals (Figure 14.5a) and hats made from hair in high status graves of the Chiribaya culture (ca. 1000 AD) from the lower reaches of the Osmore valley, Peru (Figure 14.5b). Furthermore, there are practical reasons for use of certain hair styles and hair pieces, as in human hair wigs, commonly used in ancient Egyptian society for reasons of hygiene and fashion.177
Hair was also used in ritual and magic including the ritual treatment of hair in funerary contexts.180 The Incas believed hair had magical qualities and they performed cutting rituals on a child’s first locks, often tying long hair into braids to prevent strands from falling out.106 Hair-offerings in ancient Egyptian society are considered to have been an important element of popular religion or ‘family magic’.181,182 Similar caches of tubes made from bovine horn and stuffed with human hair have been excavated in Menorca.183 Indeed the ‘magical’ importance of hair in England is evidenced by the discovery of a 5 inch long bundle of hair in a late 17th century ‘Belarmine Witch Bottle’.184 Human hair has also been used to construct artefacts, such as mats and bindings at Kulubnarti, Sudanese Nubia.185
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9.3.2 Semipermanent and Temporary Hair Dyes
Direct dyes, unlike oxidation dyes, contain a dye (and not its precursor) that when applied to the hair fibre imparts a semi-permanent or temporary colour that lasts for a variable time. Thus, lightening is not possible with these dyes. A review of historical texts reveals that the first known hair dyes were semi-permanent ones. The ancient Egyptians and Romans dyed hair and fingernails with: a) henna containing lawsone (2-hydroxy1,4-naphthoquinone), a red/orange dye; b) walnut shells containing juglone (5-hydroxy1,4-naphthoquinone) which gives a yellow/ brown colour and c) indigo. They also employed combinations or mordants with metal salts. To a very limited extent, hair is still dyed with henna, juglone, indigo and extracts such as chamomile (containing apigenin, 40,5,7-trihydroxyflavone, which gives a yellow colour). The use of these products is low however, because of poor selection of shades, uneven colouring and laborious method of application.19 In addition natural dyes may be combined with oxidation or direct dyes to achieve a higher colour intensity or stability.45 Nearly all the chromophore systems common in dye chemistry (nitro, azo, anthraquinone, triphenylmethane, and azomethine) are now currently used.43,46
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