Head lice have been around for a long time. Genetic studies suggest that lice developed about 1.68 million years before homo sapiens emerged, and that they started their relationships with humans about the same time human evolution separated from chimpanzee evolution. The oldest physical evidence of head lice on a human was a nit found on the hair of a 10,000-year-old body at an archeological site in Brazil.
Lice combs have been found in the tombs of Egyptian royalty, and even Cleopatra was said to have solid gold lice combs buried with her. Clearly, in those times, it was not considered a social blemish to deal with head lice. They wanted to have their lice combs in the next world. Even more surprising, perhaps, is that the technology for treating head lice did not change much for thousands of years. More on that later.
Intact nits have been found on the heads of the mummified remains of ancient Romans and Egyptians, and have vexed doctors and philosophers from Aristotle to Louis Pasteur. In 1100 A.D. a Rabbi proclaimed that it was permissible to remove head lice on the Sabbath. The war on lice has been going on for thousands of years, with little innovation to make it easier and more efficient.
Head Lice
Piperonyl Butoxide For Head Lice
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