Scientists at the Museum of London Archeology (MOLA) identified a ‘comb’ carved from a human skull among 280,000 objects collected between 2016 and 2018.
“The comb was found at Bar Hill, near Cambridge, a site that has already offered its share of mysterious finds – including the discovery of more than 8000 frogs from a ditch in an Iron Age settlement,” read the UK-based company’s statement. Bones are involved.”
Archaeologists refer to it as an ‘Iron Age bone comb’, describing it as having “rectangular, rounded edges and roughly cut teeth”.
The study revealed that during the Iron Age, people who lived in Britain used human bones from hands and feet to make various tools, including skinning animal skins. The recently identified ‘Bar Hill Comb’, named after the site from where it was excavated, could have been used to make cloth or even comb hair. But after a hole was discovered in the ‘comb’, the scientists changed their mind as they said that the chances are high that it could have been used as an amulet.
Noting that wearing a comb-shaped amulet was a common custom in Iron Age Britain, the statement said, “In fact, this (Bar Hill comb) is one of only three Iron Age combs made from a human skull. and the other two come from just down the road. The first was found in excavations at Erith, 9 miles north of Bar Hill in the 1970s. The second, which has carved lines instead of teeth, was found 10 miles north of Bar Hill in the early 2000s. miles south was found during excavations at Harston Mill. This suggests that this Iron Age tradition may be unique to this part of Britain!”
