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Who was the first human being to stare into a mirror?
| Dashing filthy laser beams | 06/30/22 |
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Date: June 30th, 2022 8:05 PM Author: Dashing filthy laser beams https://www.brown.edu/Departments/Joukowsky_Institute/courses/13things/7306.html#:~:text=Reflective%20surfaces%20made%20of%20polished,are%20found%20on%20antique%20pottery).
The idea of personal mirrors as tools for self-monitoring presupposes that a great deal of people have access to them. At least in the developed world, this is an empirical truth because mirrors are visibly commonplace. But how did this come to be?
Reflective surfaces made of polished obsidian are the oldest "mirrors" in the archaeological record, dating back as far as 4000 BCE. The first evidence of mirrors as grooming tools dates to the 5th century BCE, in illustrations of elegant Greeks gazing at hand mirrors (these illustrations are found on antique pottery). These mirrors, made from a polished metal disk attached to a handle, did not contain any glass. The first real glass mirrors in the record are from the 3rd century AD, consisting of extremely small (a few square inches) concave or convex metal surfaces with glass coatings. The size and style of these early mirrors leads many archaelogists to believe that they were used as jewelry or amulets rather than for personal grooming (Melchoir-Bonnet 12). |