When asked to picture a caveman, most people think of a dirty human who is hunched over wearing some type of animal skin, and with long unkempt hair. While much of that may be true (at least at times), there is actually good reason to think that most ancient humans or human ancestors actually kept their hair (including beards) cut, trimmed, and even styled.

Anthropologist Judith Berman questioned the long dirty haired stereotype, saying the following about paleolithic hairstyles:

“We do not have direct evidence of hairdos, skin, or clothing. we might surmise that the Neanderthals, living as they did in a severe glacial period, had little opportunity or motivation to groom their hair […] this is conjecture not specifically grounded in the data.”

If you think about it, long unkept hair could have some serious negative impacts on your likelihood of survival. If you were in a fight with a neighboring tribe, the long hair is an easy target to grab and pull. If running through a wooded area, long hair or beards can get caught up in branches or bushes, which is the last thing you would want when running away from a predator.

Kevin Cowley, Kristina Vanoosthuyze, Gillian McFeat, and Keith Ertel are researchers working for the Gilette Innovation Centre in Reading, UK. In 2015, they wrote:

“Hair removal for our cave dwelling ancestors was probably more about function than aesthetics. Hair could provide an additional handle for an adversary to grab during battle, it collected dirt and food, and it provided a home to insects and parasites.”

It isn’t just theory that makes many experts believe that our ancestors cut, styled, and shaved their hair. Many Venus figurines have been found, which are small statues carved from various materials. Many of them are shown to have elaborate hairdos, and others are shown to have shorter hair, or even hair that is kept up in a net. If they never styled their hair like this, why would they carve it in their art?

Of course, once you come to terms with the idea that our ancestors cared about their hair grooming, you have to ask how they did it. They lived long before humans had any way to make razors, scissors, or other metal objects that could be use to get a close shave. Well, just like they could make sharp objects for weapons, they likely did the same for shaving and cutting hair.

Flint has a cryptocrystalline structure that would be extremely sharp. Breaking flint can produce a sharp edge that would easily cut through hair. For those people who lived near volcanos, obsidian would be an excellent option. This material is so sharp that it is still used today in some areas for surgical cuts. Lee Green is the professor and chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta and talked with CNN about using obsidian for surgery, saying:

“The biggest advantage with obsidian is that it is the sharpest edge there is, it causes very little trauma to tissue, it heals faster, and more importantly, it heals with less scarring. It makes for the best cosmetic outcome.”

If it is good enough for modern surgery, it would certainly work for ancient haircuts.

The bottom line, however, is that we don’t know. Any sharpened rock or other material that could have been used for shaving or cutting hair, could also have been used as a weapon. In most cases, it is impossible to tell what an object like this was actually used for thousands of years ago, so it is all speculation.

What we do know, however, is that a growing body of evidence is showing that no matter what the stereotype is when it comes to hairy cavemen, they almost certainly didn’t let their hair grow wild and unkempt.

Our ancient ancestors were much more stylish than that.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about why we should be worried about the leak in the bottom of the ocean.