This 2000-year-old pot of cream was unearthed last year in south London at one of the most extensive Romano-Celtic temple complexes to be found in the capital. Courtesy Museum of London.
Founded upon high political ideals and forged by an army that swarmed across the known world, the Roman Empire gave its subjects civilisation, culture and, well, make up.
A team of scientists at the University of Bristol has analysed a tiny pot of 2000-year-old cream found on a Romano-British temple site in London and revealed that it bears a remarkable resemblance to modern cosmetics.
Led by Professor of Chemistry Richard Evershed, the team was able to work out the exact chemical make up of the cream and even replicate it.
"When we saw this thing, we said it looked like a cosmetic face cream," Hedley Swain, Head of Early London History and Collections at the Museum of London who took custody of the cream after it was found, told the 24 Hour Museum.
"But for us what this really does is just complete how exciting this whole find has been."
Measuring six centimetres by five, the small metal pot was unearthed in July 2003 close to a newly-discovered temple complex in Southwark, south London.
Taken to the Museum of London it was opened and archaeologists were astonished to find a small quantity of what looked like cream showing marks apparently left by the last fingers that used it, some 2000 years ago.
The results of Prof Evershed’s work are revealed in Nature Magazine, due to be published on November 4, and show that the cream contains refined animal fat, starch and tin oxide.
White face paint was fashionable in the Roman era and while it normally took its colour from lead acetate, a tin compound would have made a suitable substitute and, of course, was in good supply in Cornwall.
An artist's impression of how the extensive temple complex might have looked. © Helen Davies.
According to the researchers inorganic tin has no medicinal value. So their conclusion is that it must have been used as a pigment. Its non-toxic properties would also have been a plus as the health risks of lead were already becoming recognised by the second century AD.
Using the same recipe, the team synthesised their own version of the cream, rubbing it into their skin. They discovered that it left a smooth powdery texture, an effect created by the starch, which is still used for the same effect today.
Uncovered in October 2002, the site where the pot of cream was found offered rare evidence of organised religion as it was conducted 2000 years ago.
This extraordinary discovery drastically altered archaeologists’ view of Roman London, but it was the small pot of cream that really caught imaginations.
"To have something that’s more or less the same as it would have looked, as it would have felt 2000 years ago is one of those slightly hairs on the back of the neck type of situations," explained Hedley Swain.
But, despite knowing exactly what it is made of, he added, there are still answers to be found.
"As with all the best archaeological finds, what it actually does is ask us a whole load of new questions," he said. "Was the tin designed for the cream? Did it come from somewhere else? Was it mixed in London? What is it doing in a temple complex?"
"It makes you think more about the complexity of life," he added. "Things like this bring home how complicated day to day life was back then."
For more information about the extraordinary temple complex discovery, originally unearthed by Pre-Construct Archaeology, have a look at their specially-created webpage.
