Viking Ear-Spoons and Other Ancient Hygiene Practices

Did you know some Vikings carried around little spoons they used to clean out their ears? Or that some ancient Egyptians used a kind of early breath mint to smell better?

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Too often, many of us assume of past societies were dirty and germ-infested, but truthfully, there’s a lot of ancient hygiene practices which were surprisingly inventive. And some, like the Xylospongium which are maybe better left in the past. From Greece to the Aztec Empire, here are six curious and imaginative practices from around the ancient world you might not have heard of before.

0:00 Intro
0:33 Viking Ear-Spoons
1:03 Egyptian Breath Mints (Kapets)
1:35 Roman Laundromat (Fullonicae)
2:18 Greek Strigil
2:52 Greek & Roman Xylospongium
3:23 Chinese Paper
3:52 Aztec Deodorant
4:25 Outro

Sources:
Viking Hygiene - Joshua J. Mark: https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1840/viking-hygiene-clothing--jewelry/
Egyptian Breath Mints - Brian Handwerk: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/halitosis-horrors-how-bad-breath-became-americas-worst-nightmare-180962104/
Roman Laundry - Joshua J. Mark: https://www.worldhistory.org/article/46/the-fullers-of-ancient-rome/
Xylospongium - Peter Preskar: https://short-history.com/xylospongium-debe5899fb49
History of Toilet Paper - Ollie Lyon: https://www.plumbworld.co.uk/blog/the-history-of-toilet-paper-from-ancient-china-to-your-bathroom-wall
Aztec Deodorant - https://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/home/clean-aztecs-dirty-spaniards

Most images from Wikimedia Commons

Photo Credit (1:47) – Rafael-Jiménez @flickr.com

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#history #vikings #archaeology