Summary

This base of a ceramic jar was excavated at the Commonwealth Block site between 1988 and 2003. It would have been used for ointment or paste.

Health and hygiene.
'Cleanliness is next to Godliness'. This is a difficult maxim to follow when 'there is not one bath in sixty', when sewerage gathers in cesspits and open drainage channels line the streets.But the residents of Little Lon did practice personal hygiene. Archaeologists have uncovered toothbrushes and toothpaste pots, scent bottles, soap dishes, combs and hairbrushes.
Clean teeth and neat hair did not guarantee good health however. Doctors were expensive, so ordinary people had to rely on medicines like Holloway's Ointment and Hall's Vegetable Pain Conqueror as well as Chinese herbal remedies. Children were dosed weekly with the laxative castor oil, to keep their bowels regular.

Physical Description

This is a clear glazed ceramic jar base with a concave bowl. There is an impressed mark on the base.

Physical Description

Description for Parent Record: 2 ceramic jar bases. 1 with a concave bowl and an impressed mark on the base, reading 'II...H&J', base diameter 65mm, possibly an ointment or paste jar. 1 with flat bowl and an impressed number reading '10' on the base with a diameter of 71mm. Both are clear glazed.

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