Hair needle

Reproduction of a hair needle (acus) has a hand-shaped head, the neck has an annular shape and joins the head to the body of the needle is coiled.

Acus (needles) in the Roman world were for the exclusive use of women, mundus muliebris. In ancient times they were also used by men when it was still fashionable for them to wear long hair. Some examples appear in Ovid's Ars Amandi when it refers to Theseus' long hair (Ovid, Ars Amandi, I, 510), and in Homer's Iliad when it talks about a man who had his hair decorated with jewels (Homer, Iliad, XVII, 52).

In some sites such as Complutum, hair needles have been found that have been broken at some point and have been reused. The sizes and types of decoration depended on the tastes and purchasing power of each woman; there were some decorated with embedded pearls, with human figures, plant motifs, animals, etc.

Already in Roman times, hair was a sign of distinction, men had to have their hair well cut and groomed according to the new mentality of masculine image that they had, thus needles became something exclusive to women.

The headdress was a fundamental element of adornment for Roman women, sometimes they reached a large size and were authentic works of art, which is why it is believed that they had a slave dedicated to hair and makeup called an ornatrix. This has been reaffirmed with the discovery of a comb and an acus carved on a funerary tombstone, collected by Daremberg and Saglio in their dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities.

Women always had to appear with their hair up since loose hair was a disqualifying element and was considered a sign of abandonment and carelessness.

Hair needles could be made of antler, bone or bronze, but there were also others made of more noble materials such as ivory, gold or silver. Sometimes dyes were used for bone acus, especially red or green.

In most cases these needles were used to gather hair, there are few cases in which they have been found related to other uses, but other uses are being considered, such as holding clothes. It is said that the mistresses punished their servants when they made a mistake by hurting them with hair needles on their arms, legs and chest. It is also said that it was not unusual for the needles to be hollow and thus they could be filled with perfume or poison. According to tradition, Cleopatra poisoned herself with the substance found inside a needle she wore in her hair (Cassius Dio 54 , 14).