Scientists uncover the oldest eyeliner from ruins of a prehistoric city in Turkey – and the tip is still black from its last use 8,200 years ago!

The oldest eyeliner ever found has been unearthed in the ruins of a prehistoric city, revealing humans used makeup over 8,000 years ago. 

The kohl stick – a type of eyeliner still used today – was discovered in Yeşilova Höyük, an ancient settlement in western Turkey.

It’s made of green serpentine stone and – remarkably – still has traces of black paint on its tip from when it was last used.

Lead archaeologist Zafer Derin said: ‘For centuries, kohl has been worn by individuals of all genders, statuses, and socioeconomic levels.’

It has been used in different parts of the world, namely Egypt, the Levant, Syria, Iran, and Anatolia. 

The tip of the Kohl stick is still black from the last time it was used to apply makeup 8,200 years ago. This photo illustrates what Kohl makeup might have looked like 

‘It’s been used from ancient times to the present, and it is still used in many regions today. 

‘The kohl stick found in Yeşilova Höyük is the oldest known example ever found.

‘This may show how much the first Aegean women living in Yeşilova were fond of their beauty.’ 

The artefact was found in a Neolithic layer dating back some 8,200 years. 

The area of Yeşilova Höyük is an ancient site in the modern-day Turkish city of Izmir. 

Archaeologists believe that the area was continuously inhabited between 6500 BC until around 4000 BC.

Ancient civilisations used a sharp rod called a kohl stick to apply dark pigment (pictured) to their eyes as makeup 

The artefact was discovered in the ancient settlement of Yeşilova Höyük, in the modern-day city of Izmir, Turkey 

The artefact was discovered in a Neolithic layer which is believed to date back to around 6500 BC

Excavations have uncovered the remains of reeds used to make huts and ash from cooking fires in the most ancient layers. 

More recent layers reveal the development of a large Neolithic settlement containing stone houses, workshops, and courtyards. 

However, the original Neolithic site in which the artefact was found was abandoned and destroyed by a fire in 5700 BC – leaving the area hidden by a layer of silt for thousands of years. 

The kohl stick, which is just under 10cm long and a centimetre thick at its handle, is just one of the numerous innovations developed by the people of Yeşilova Höyük during this period.

Dr Derin said it was ‘very well smoothed and shaped into a sharp pen’. 

The site of Yeşilova Höyük is believed to have been continuously inhabited between 6500 BC and 4000 BC. The people who lived there would have used kohl as makeup and as a form of medicine 

It would have been dipped into a container of kohl, and then used like a modern eyeliner pencil. 

The black substance at the tip has been sent for analysis, but is thought to be manganese oxide – one of the components of kohl. 

Yet its use not have been purely cosmetic, Dr Derin added.

He said: ‘As it is known from many written texts, paintings, and sculptures in ancient Egypt, kohl was mainly used for the treatment of eye diseases rather than an aesthetic function. 

‘It was also thought to reduce the brightness of the sun by applying it thickly around the eyes.’ 

Kohl is made by grinding stibnite, a mineral found in hydrothermal deposits. 

The cosmetic, called ‘al-kuhl’ in Arabic, also provides the origin of the English word ‘alcohol’.