(15-12-2016, 04:26 PM)Davidsch wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Yes, i agree they are more like pincers. But I still think it is a thingie to get a baby foetus, see the other thread somewhere.
But about the strigil often chained together:
In all my (bathing) research I never come across a set of 2 strigils or one or more chained together.
As I said I focused on these three countries.
When you argue they are quite often chained, that is perhaps in another region.
You picture shows, again, a very impractical chaining. It seems to me they are de-attached before use.
PS. Have you wondered how practical and nice a cold chain on the hot flesh is ?
I don't think it's very practical to use a metal tong-blade for cleaning the skin, but apparently it was widely used.
One of the things that turned up in my research, despite the fact that Greek vases show athletes using the strigil on themselves, is that bath girls were often the ones who poured the water, added the herbs, laid on the oil, and used the strigil to scrape the bather's skin. Maybe some of these strigils hung from a waistband when not in use. Maybe some of the strigils that still survive used to be in pairs, but the other parts, which are sometimes fragile (like some of the finer chains) have been separated from them over time. Here's one that looks like it You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (there's a metal part that has corroded away), and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..
I'm not trying to argue that it was practical to use two. I'm only putting forth some of the things I discovered when reading about them and suggesting if a bath lady were holding them between clients, she might have a pair.
If you look at page 124 You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., there is an inventory of antique strigils, with many of them described as pairs and some as calipers.