These are questions I have been contemplating as of late. Why did the human species decide to alter their appearance to such an extent as we do? When did the first hairstyle appear? How do we figure this out?
I am interested to figure out when we even started combing our hair. If left to its own devices, most hair will eventually get tangled, unless the cuticle is especially tight. When and why did we start brushing and combing our tresses? And to what end? From there we can talk about cutting and coloring hair. As far as I understand things, all societies with written history have in some way altered their hair. Some for practicality, others to look a certain way. I just want to know where the practice started.
I can completely understand the part of hair care that is "social grooming". It was a method by which we could remove ticks from your fellow human, gain a little protein sustenance, and develop interpersonal relationships. Especially with the release of oxytocin(the connection hormone) during the process. It makes sense that the species would participate in social grooming, but not that we started arranging our hair in very specific fashions. No other species, that I know of, actively cuts their hair/fur to appear different than they would naturally.
I can also see how we would want to appear reproductively viable. Thusly, put color on the grey hairs, so they don't give away your age. However, when did we start doing this? I would presume the first "haircolor" was an accident. Why did ancient humans decide to start coloring their hair?
These are things that I contemplate and I plan to do more research to see if I can find some solid answers. Maybe I will be the first person to gather the data. I would assume that someone else has thought of such things, but I am interested nonetheless.
