Roman ladies used one or more hairpins to put up their long hair. The simplest hairpins end in a round head, but more elaborate – and thus more expensive – ones were also used, with ends sculpted into a human face or a whole human body. Hairpins were made of different metals and also of bone. In the 1^st century AD, Roman hairpins were quite long, because the fashionable hairstyles were tall. In later centuries, the length of the hairpins decreased.

 

dimensions: 85 mm, diameter of head 13 mm

provenance: South Shields Roman Fort (UK)

date: 2^nd – 4^th century AD