‘Incredibly rare’ comb made from a human skull found at English archaeological site

Archaeologists recently unearthed an ancient artifact in England that might make your hair stand on end: a comb made from a human skull.

The macabre discovery was made during an analysis of objects recovered from an archaeological site near Cambridge, according to a Feb. 28 news release from the Museum of London Archaeology.

“This is an incredibly rare find,” archaeologists wrote in the release, adding that it may shed light on cultural practices in Iron Age Britain, which spanned from 750 BC to 43 AD.

During the Iron Age, Britain was populated by warring tribes that often resided in hill forts, according to University of Warwick research.

The bone fragment — which is likely several thousand years old — is distinguished by a row of roughly a dozen carved “teeth,” indicating it may have been used as a comb, though it’s impossible to know for sure.

If it was indeed used for grooming purposes, it would not be unprecedented. The repurposing of human bones appears to have been a common practice during the Iron Age in Britain, archaeologists said.

In fact, an earlier excavation near Cambridge, located about 60 miles north of London, unearthed tools fashioned from human leg and arm bones that were used for cleaning animal skins.

Still, only two other combs carved from human bones have been excavated in Britain, and they were also found near Cambridge, indicating it may have been an isolated phenomenon.

“It is possible this fascinating find represents a tradition carried out by Iron Age communities living solely in this area of Cambridgeshire,” Michael Marshall, a museum team leader, said in the release. “To be able to see such hyper-local influences in groups of people living over 2,000 years ago is truly astonishing.”

One other theory is that it was used not as a tool but as a totem, archaeologists said.

The lack of wear and tear on the artifact, which indicates the fragment was not regularly used to disentangle hair, may support this hypothesis.

Further, a hole drilled into the bone suggests that it could have been worn as a charm, a well-documented practice in ancient Britain.

“The Bar Hill Comb may have been a highly symbolic and powerful object for members of the local community,” Marshall said. “It is possible it was carved from the skull of an important member of Iron Age society, whose presence was in some way preserved and commemorated through their bones.”

Unfortunately the purpose of the unusual bone fragment may never fully be known, archaeologists said, though further research may provide more clues. It will be stored at the Cambridgeshire Archaeology Archive.

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