Excavations that have been continuing in Alacahoyuk, one of the centers of Hittite civilization, have unearthed hair ties and jewelry made of animal horns that are nearly 3,700-year-old .
The head of the excavations, Professor Aykut Cinaroglu, said they had found the hair ties during excavations in the chambers of the mine factory.
“The four ties we found are made of bronze, copper and tin. The motifs on the ties are interesting. We estimate that the Hittite women used these ties to tie their hair in ponytails,” he said.
Cinaroglu said both the royal family members and the public had probably used the hair ties.
“Hittite people were proud of their beardless and clean face, but the Assyrians had beards. In my opinion, these ties were used by women. We know that the Hittite women used to wear earrings and necklaces. They would have been used by the public.”
He said they had also found jewelry made from animal horn during an excavation in another field.
“It has some motifs on it like an eye. It is nice jewelry. We don’t know what kind of horn it is. It was also used by the public. Such jewelry was used in the Hittite era. We can say that these people were fond of such things,” Cinaroglu said, adding that works would continue and that they expected to find other important artifacts during the excavations in the factory and other fields.
Source: Hurriyet Daily News [September 09, 2015]
would like more pics one not enough!
how was it used? how would it work as a hair tie? thank you
Id say it didnt actualy "tie" the hair into a ponytail, it was most likely used as a pick (like chopsticks) to secure a twisted bun. Sometimes things dont translate perfectly from another language, although it could also have been stuck into a ponytail that was already secured with a string or leather strap of some sort