K.T. Getchell, age 10, of Williamsport, Pa., for his question:
DID STONE AGE PEOPLE CUT THEIR HAIR?
The Stone Age is one of the oldest periods of the history of mankind. But, unfortunately, we have no written records to show how people acted during this ancient time. There are indications, however, that man during this early period of time did use various tools to help make life a bit easier.
Men from the Stone Age used implements and weapons made of stone. Since we have no recorded history, we can only assume what the implements were used for. It is very possible that one of the uses of the stone knife like tool was for trimming the hair.
From the first of ancient man's recorded history we know that he has always wanted to care for his appearance. And, through the ages, he has been fussing with and about his hair.
The ancient Egyptians had a great deal to do with caring for their heads. For reasons of religion and for cleanliness, the head was generally shaved. Priests and people of high rank wore wigs over their shaven heads. More common people wore skullcaps over bare heads, although some of them wore their own hair in bobbed fashion.
Assyrian and Babylonian people, who had a civilization nearly as old as the Egyptians, also did 'a lot of fussing over their hair. They made use of curling irons and black dye, dressing their hair with great care. On special occasions they powdered their hair with gold dust.
Hair styles certainly change through the years. Today, for e ample, some boys are wearing their hair longer than their fathers did. While some girls wear their hair in short bobs, others leave it long and only trim the ends
Earliest man probably had many of our ideas about hair care. He most likely wanted to keep it controlled so probably did some trimming.
We must do a lot of guessing to put together pieces of ancient history, since recorded information is not available to fill in answers to all of the questions we have. But we can assume that man has always wanted to keep himself neat and clean and that he most likely bathed himself and washed his hair even back in the Stone Age days.