Bone combSouth Carolina State Parks
Posted on 10/19/2026 7:14:35 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
WCBD reports that a bone comb has been unearthed at Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site, which is located on the Ashley River, about 20 miles from the city of Charleston. The simple comb may have been discarded when too many of its tines had broken off. The village of Dorchester was founded in 1697 and abandoned before the Revolutionary War. A brick church bell tower, traces of the town's log wharf, and the remains of a fort made of oyster-shell concrete remain at the site. For more about the site, go to "Off the Grid: Dorchester, South Carolina."
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...
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Bone combSouth Carolina State Parks
This is some fine work. I don’t t think I could make one of those today.
I would think those tines would break every time you tried to comb your hair.
Carved from a single bone?! A lot of work. So it’s supposed to be 1600s age?
It’d be easier to just skin a fish.
It is some fine work. Maybe the ones which didn’t go well got chucked and we only see the good ones. 😁 Or maybe they were just that good.
I may have been worn in the hair, rather than to actively comb it, but it seems as if it would still be a problem.
Take that back to Costco for a refund
Looks like a nit comb.
Concur. I've seen several and the spaces between the tines are the same. Head lice was extremely common back then with no real lasting solution, because of reinfestation. When it occurred just a little over a hundred years ago it took a long time to remove, e.g. boil the clothes, put kerosene on the hair, etc... .
Today, head lice is very common amongst elementary school kids.
What bone/animal is large enough and strong enough for that?
Great album!
made of oyster-shell concrete
aka tabby. There is a lot of it in coastal cities like Savannah and Charleston used in older building foundations.
I didn’t even know you needed to comb bones.
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