GAY TIMES

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 28 November 1927, Page 8

GAY TIMES

AN IRON AGE. WOMEN ROUGED, MEN GAMBLED. London, Oct. 22. From the peaty soil of a meadow hard by the village of Meare, near Glastonbury, Somerset,. archaeologists are digging out the history of men and women who were living civilized lives in Somerset 2200 years and more ago. They were the Britons of the early Iron Age, amazingly versatile folk, but rather timid, who built their homes in the midst of lakes for fear of their enemies. From this lake village of Meare they were compelled to row in their log boats, scooped out of trees, to what was then the village of Glastonbury. Excavations which have been and still are being made under the direction of Dr. A. Bulleid and Mr. H. St. George Gray, curator of the Somerset County Museum, Taunton, and secretary of the Somerset Archaeological Society, have resulted in important discoveries. These prove, for instance, that British women of 200 B.C. were just as anxious to make the most of their looks as the women of to-day. Not only have all manner of beautiful ornaments and some useful articles, such as bronze mirrors and combs, been found, but there have also come to light expertly fashioned tweezers and even a substance similar to rouge. Women then had, too a definite feminine love of finery, as witness the beautiful coloured beads and the many decorative and serviceable dress pins which have been unearthed. As for the men, there is proof that they gambled, for among the many interesting finds arc oblong-shaped dice, cut out of bone and numbered in dots —3,4, 5, and 6. It is estimated that there were 120 houses in the village and most of these have to be located.