this post was submitted on 27 Dec 2025
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Archaeologists believed that the women hairstyles depicted in ancient Roman statues were far too complicated, and therefore had to be elaborate wigs.
Janet Stephens, a hairdresser, took one look at the back of a bust, and immediately saw the underlying logic of the styles and how they could be achieved with a needle and thread.
When she got home, she found that archaeologists had consistently mistranslated the Latin phrase for "acus" which can mean needle and thread or single prone hairpin as only single prong hairpin. She goes on to film herself recreating all sorts elaborate hairstyles in Roman busts, and changed archeological viewpoint from then on.
Janet Stephens - Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Stephens
EDIT: Janet Stephens uploads recreations of ancient Roman hairstyles on her YouTube channel if you are interested
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhacomyGRF2PBSm-ByuuNup6TGB3B8aAI
Thats badass actually I love it