Jun 23, 2026 · 2 min · 3 segments
Humans have lost most of our body hair, but the beard has stubbornly remained – though anthropologists can find no function for it. Perhaps that’s why men have been grooming it, or removing it, for…
Scott TinkerHost
Humans have lost most of our body hair, but the beard has stubbornly remained, though anthropologists can find no function for it.
Perhaps that's why men have been grooming it or removing it for thousands of years.
Archaeologists have found flint razors they may have used to shave, and shell tweezers they may have used to pluck off their beards.
Facial hair was considered unclean, and men used copper erasers or caustic chemicals to burn off their beards.
Centuries later, Alexander the Great's soldiers wore beards until he ordered them gone.
The Romans reversed things again and civilized men shaved or went to barbershops.
Through the Middle Ages, beards came and went with the styles of influential leaders.
Christian priests remained clean-shaven to separate themselves from rabbis and Muslim clerics, who often had beards.
In the 20th century, in the US and Europe, shaving became synonymous with uprightness and business success.
In the 21st century, things changed again, as beards reflect individual style and even environmental sustainability, avoiding the waste of disposable shaving products.
Humans have lost most of our body hair, but the beard has stubbornly remained, though anthropologists can find no function for it.
Perhaps that's why men have been grooming it or removing it for thousands of years.
Archaeologists have found flint razors they may have used to shave, and shell tweezers they may have used to pluck off their beards.
Facial hair was considered unclean, and men used copper erasers or caustic chemicals to burn off their beards.
Centuries later, Alexander the Great's soldiers wore beards until he ordered them gone.
The Romans reversed things again and civilized men shaved or went to barbershops.
Through the Middle Ages, beards came and went with the styles of influential leaders.
Christian priests remained clean-shaven to separate themselves from rabbis and Muslim clerics, who often had beards.
In the 20th century, in the US and Europe, shaving became synonymous with uprightness and business success.
In the 21st century, things changed again, as beards reflect individual style and even environmental sustainability, avoiding the waste of disposable shaving products.
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