Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

Archaeology

Formulation of a Roman cosmetic

This unguent shares some surprising features with modern moisturizing creams.

Abstract

The discovery of a small tin canister in London during archaeological excavations of a Roman temple precinct, dated to the middle of the second century AD1, is a landmark in the study of this class of artefact. Such discoveries from the Roman world are rare2 and this is the only one to be found so far with its lid and contents — a whitish medicinal or cosmetic cream — providing a unique opportunity for us to study the ancient formulation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Appearance of the cream.
Figure 2: Analysis of the Roman canister's contents.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Durrani, N. Curr. Archaeol. 192, 540–547 (2004).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Beagrie, N. Britannia 20, 169–191 (1989).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Copley, M. S. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 100, 1524–1529 (2003).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Ralph, J. & Hatfield, R. D. J. Agric. Food Chem. 39, 1426–1437 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Blakeney, A. B., Harris, P. J., Henry, R. J. & Stone, B. A. Carbohyd. Res. 113, 291–299 (1983).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. PDF-2 Powder Diffraction Database (International Centre for Diffraction Data, Pennsylvania, 1999).

  7. Cert, A., Lanzón, A., Carelli, A. A., Albi, T. & Amelitti, G. Food Chem. 49, 287–293 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Pliny Natural History (ed. Rackham, H.) 9 (Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1944).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Riddle, J. M. in Dioscorides on Pharmacy and Medicine 153–154 (Univ. of Texas Press, 1985).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Toxicological Profile for Tin and Tin Compounds (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, US Public Health Service, 2003).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. P. Evershed.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Evershed, R., Berstan, R., Grew, F. et al. Formulation of a Roman cosmetic. Nature 432, 35–36 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/432035a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/432035a

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing