An archaeological study recently completed by a team of Chinese scientists-a comprehensive analysis of the residue in a miniature copper pot unearthed from a tomb of a male nobleman in the Spring and Autumn Period in Shaanxi, and found that the residue was made of tallow as a matrix mixed with calcium carbonate monohydrate particles. Whitening cosmetics.
This is not only the earliest men's cosmetics in China so far, but also the earliest known facial creams in China, bringing the history of making facial creams in China more than 1,000 years earlier.
A tomb of a male nobleman was located at the Ruiguo site in the Spring and Autumn Period in Liujiawa, Chengcheng County, Shaanxi Province. A miniature copper pot was excavated in 2017. The remains of about 6 grams of residue in the pot have attracted attention.
Professor Yang Yimin’s research group from the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (National University of Science and Technology), recently worked with Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology Researcher Jianrong Zhong, Associate Researcher Sun Zhanwei, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, The German Max Planck Society Institute of Human History Science and others have cooperated to use a series of modern advanced technology to complete a comprehensive analysis of the residues in the miniature copper tanks. The research results papers were recently published online in the international professional journal "Science and Technology Archaeology".
On the afternoon of February 4th, the first author of the paper, Dr. Han Bin of National University of Science and Technology, said in an interview with reporters in the laboratory that the research results showed that the residue in the miniature copper tank was made of ruminant body fat (tallow) as a matrix mixed with monohydrate carbonate. Calcium particles, it is whitening cosmetics and the earliest male cosmetics found in China.
He said that the discovery of the cosmetic facial cream based on beef fat at the Liujiawa site indicates that the ancestors of Eastern Zhou Dynasty in China had already made and used the facial cream based on fat, which was earlier than the record in "Qi Min Yao Shu" More than 1,000 years, which has advanced the history of making facial cream in China by more than 1,000 years.
The corresponding author of the thesis, Professor Yang Yimin, hopes that the academic community will take the opportunity of the research results of cosmetics at the Liujiawa site to further pay attention to and strengthen the research and analysis of the remains of relevant container residues unearthed from archaeological sites, and fill more gaps in the origin and early development of the cosmetics industry in ancient China .
(Reporter Sun Zifa edited Guo Shihao)
Editor in charge: [Ji Xiang]