Ancient male warriors showed signs of vanity

Scandinavian men who lived 3,000 years ago were buried with bronze straight-edged razors, tweezers and tools that could have been used for manicures. 

1/3. Many men were buried with shaving kits in the early Bronze Age. Razors and tweezers made of bronze have been found on Denmark’s Funen (Fyn) Island. (Photo: National Museum of Denmark)

Decoration, hair removal and sexy men were in vogue during one historical period — weapons and prowess in battle dominated in another. Then came a time when men had more choice in the matter.

“There were more ways of being a man than we thought,” says Lisbeth Skogstrand, an archaeologist who has contributed with something as novel as a gender perspective on men’s burial mounds.

Her doctoral dissertation at the University of Oslo  tries to show how masculinity in Scandinavia has changed during periods that lack a local written history.

Her study spans 1,500 years, from the Early Nordic Bronze Age from 1100-500 years BC until 400 AD, during the late Roman Period, which was part of the Early Iron Age in Northern Europe. [...] sciencenordic.com