Archeologists Discover Remains with Hair Extensions in Ancient Egyptian City

Archaeologists working in the ancient city of Amarna in Egypt have discovered 100s of skeletal remains with varied hairstyles and some even have hair extensions.

The city was constructed as a new capital of Egypt by Akhenaten  during his reign from 1353 to 1335 B.C. He wanted his people to follow one god, the sun or Aten and one religion.

One particular skeletal with almost 70 hair extensions has caught the attention of the archeologists studying the life, culture and times of the city under the Amarna Project.

The body of the woman was not mummified but  wrapped in a mat. She has "a very complex coiffure with approximately 70 extensions fastened in different layers and heights on the head," said Jolanda Bos, an archaeologist working on the project,  reports Live Science.

"Whether or not the woman had her hair styled like this for her burial only is one of our main research questions," said Bos to Live Science. "The hair was most likely styled after death, before a person was buried. It is also likely, however, that these hairstyles were used in everyday life as well and that the people in Amarna used hair extensions in their daily life."

People of Amarna seemed to follow a variety of hairstyles with more emphasis on short hair. There were some more remains found with hair extensions with one even carrying different colors indicating they were taken from different people.

Another style followed was forming rings and curls around the ears. Fat was used for styling, which apparently preserved the hair too. One hair extension was colored, most probably with henna.

"Braids were often not more than 20 cm [7.9 inches] long, leaving the hair at shoulder length approximately," Bos said. "The longest hair that was found consisted of multilayered extensions to a length of approximately 30 cm [11.8 inches]."