Romans – Did you EAR about the local discovery?

Have you ever found yourself wondering how the romans cleaned their inner-ears? No, me neither, but thanks to a local discovery we can confirm they did. Being the innovators, the romans were they naturally used a similar instrument as we do today. One big difference from the cotton bud you’ve recently used to cleaned your ear the roman alternative was made of metal. The ear cleaner is believed to be two thousand old, also found with the same believed date of origin were a pair of tweezers which are remarkable similar to the tweezer you’ve recently used!

The artefacts thought to date back 2000 years were discovered at the site where a new bridge is being built. A Roman ear cleaner and tweezers were found at Springhead Bridge which is being built in Ebbsfleet Garden City.

Also found was a piece of timber which may have been used in construction 2000 years ago.

It is likely that it found its way to the bottom of the River Ebbsfleet after being dropped from a barge during transportation. Ebbsfleet Development Corporation, which is building the bridge, has commissioned specialists to preserve the timber in wax in a process that takes more than a year.

All the items discovered at the construction site, where archaeologists were employed full time, have been removed for further examination and documentation. The corporation employed archaeologists at the site due to significant finds elsewhere in the area, including elephant bones during the construction of the High Speed 1 line. There is no doubt that rich history in the grounds below our feet in this part of the world and in this most recent case a vain-history. So next time you find yourself cleaning your ears bemoaning the gabby nature of a cotton bud, think of your Roman Ancestor who delved metal inside his/her ear in order to scrub up.

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