Darkened hematite with manganite and braunite, galena and anglesite, all well mixed with vegetable waxes and other organic substances. This is how the oldest lipstick discovered to date was prepared, the remains of which have been discovered in Iran and which dates back to the Bronze Age.
In the second millennium BC, in the region of Jiroft, in the present-day province of German, in southeastern Iran, someone deposited a small stone jar containing a bright, deep red cosmetic preparation that archaeologists have identified as a paint or paste to color the lips.
“The mixture observed bears a striking resemblance to contemporary lipstick recipes,” the researchers say in an article published in the journal Scientific Reports. The product was mixed sometime between 1936 and 1687 BC, coinciding with the era of splendor of the powerful Mar?aši empire (today known as Jiroft).
This enigmatic culture, which some consider the true cradle of humanity, was a great urban civilization that was born at the end of the 5th millennium BC. and developed until the end of the 3rd millennium. Its citizens were great experts in carving semi-precious stones such as calcite, chlorite, obsidian or lapis lazuli. They also stood out for the advanced iconography of their containers.
Iranian archaeologists recovered the Bronze Age cosmetic more than 20 years ago. In 2001, the Halil River flooded and devastated several cemeteries near the current city of Jiroft and brought many artifacts to the surface, most of which were looted by locals and ended up being sold on the Internet.
The items that could be recovered, including the lipstick, are now part of the collection of the Jiroft Archaeological Museum. Recently, specialists at the universities of Padua and Tehran analyzed the red substance using radiocarbon dating and determined that it was up to 4,000 years old.
Laboratory studies identified particles of quartz, ground sand or crystals, which suggest they may have been included to add a bit of sparkle, although a much less glamorous explanation is that the quartz came loose from the decomposing container.
The container where the painting was kept, made of an elegant and valuable chloritic green rock, seemed to replicate a piece of swamp reed. The lip pigment contained traces of plant fibers, which could have been added by the manufacturer to perfume the product.
“The slender shape and limited thickness of the vial, which does not resemble any other known similar object, suggest that it could have been held comfortably in one hand along with the handle of a copper or bronze mirror, leaving the other hand free to use a brush or other type of applicator,” the study authors write.
Archaeologists aren’t sure who owned the makeup, but they do know that women in Iran anciently used beauty products like this. Other popular cosmetics included a black powder called sormeh used as eyeliner and henna, used to dye hair and skin.
“Currently, this could be identified as the oldest lipstick we know,” the experts point out, although they trust that over time other even older examples can be found “taking into account the long and well-known technical and aesthetic tradition of cosmetology.” in ancient Iran.
