Have you ever wondered why the barbers were also called " corkscrews " and exercised functions of surgery ? In Lifestyle we will see a bit of its history.
At the beginning, in the Paleolithic
In these primitive societies, those responsible for cutting or shaping the hair were people with more authority.It was believed that the soul was in the hair , and that these were a manifestation of the thoughts, so cutting them was tantamount to eliminating the bad accumulated and renew the energies.
Excavators in Egypt found razors made of sharp stones from the Bronze Age , with 3,500 years old.
Greek barbers
The barbers became very popular.More or less in the fifth century BC, men were curling their beards and hair, something that barbers did, who arrived to become professionals.Even there the first barber shops were created, which became meeting points, such as clubs, where men gathered to talk about philosophy or politics .
In addition to cutting and combing, they also gave the hair shine with lotions and ointments, and massaged the scalp with flower essences and olive oil.
The prohibition of beards
When Alexander the Great conquers almost all Asia , he also loses several battles against the Persians , who took the soldiers by the beards and dismounted them with total ease of the horses, gaining an advantage over the Macedonians.Then, Alexander orders that in all his domains the soldiers have the face completely shaved and prohibits beards.Soon civilians follow this style, which gave barbers more work.
Roman barbers os
Thanks to the Greek influence, the Romans also began to cut their hair and beards, and then barbershops arise in Rome .It is said that Scipio the African He was the first important Roman to appear shaved, as his image appears in a coin of the third century BC, if that style will be from that moment until near the fall of the Empire , when The fashion of beards and long hair is back.
As in Greece, the barber shops were meeting places, and they were called tonstrinae , and the barbers tonsores .The Romans passed several hours taking care of the hair and the face, and it is at this time when the barbers began to make dental extractions.
Barbers-surgeons-corkscrews
In the Middle Ages, the clergy were in charge of most of the surgical operations (for belonging to the most enlightened class, who knew how to read and write) and took as assistants the most trained, the barbers, who already regularly practiced tooth extraction.But the councils of Letran , in 1123, and of Tours , in 1163, prohibit the practice of medicine and surgical operations to monks and priests for considering that draw blood from the human body was a sacrilege for the ministers of God.
This is how these functions fall on the barbers, opening later a struggle of 6 centuries between these and the surgeons.
Until the first half of the 15th century the barbers continued to perform surgeries and “pulling teeth” without almost any problem.In England, in 1450, by a decision of the Parliament , barbers alone they could perform bleeding, dental extractions and take care and cut hair.
Until dentistry emerged as a profession and medical study.
If you were interested in this article , you may want to know 7 amazing uses of toothpaste.
Images: Neal Moralee, IamNotUnique
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