© Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya - Girona
Omeka ID 3157
Empúries
Roman world

volsellae

MAC GIR-001209

Object type
bronze tweezers
Production date
1 / 201
Fabric
-
Museum
Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya - Girona
Culture
Roman world
Discovery location
Empúries
Materials
bronze
Township
Escala, l' (Europa, Espanya, Catalunya, Girona, Alt Empordà)
Technique
casting, moulding
Where is it?
MASPG
Dimensions
90 x 17 mm
Description
Bronze tweezers or “volsellae” from Empúries (l'Escala, Alt Empordà), 9 cm long and 1.7 cm wide. These types of tweezers could be used for either cosmetic or surgical use. The tweezers or surgical “volsellae” usually appear to form panoplia with other instruments, connected by a ring. In the Roman world, hair removal was both a male and female activity and used to be practiced in the baths by specialist slaves called “alipili”.