Like my previous post, Hair History: Braids; this article will explore the origins of dreadlocks and how the hairstyle has been adapted throughout time by different cultures to fit they're own norms. Though the history of "dreads" is not as well recorded, also like the history of braids, dreadlocks prove to be another hairstyle that should be seen as a uniting factor, not a dividing one.
Young boxers with long dreadlocks depicted on a fresco from Akrotiri
Though the first dreadlocks most likely have not been historically documented, scientists assume prehistoric humanoids naturally developed dreadlocks before they were used for cultural purposes. The documented history of dreadlocks starts back about 3,600 years ago, in the Minoan civilization, one of Europe's earliest civilizations, centred in Crete (now part of Greece). Frescoes discovered on the Aegean island of Thera (modern Santorini, Greece) depict individuals with braided hair styled in long dreadlocks. During Julius Caesars' lifetime (100-44 BC), he once stated that Germans had hair like "snakes". Through time the style remained in the Mediterranean region; in Ancient Greece, kouros sculptures from the archaic period depict men wearing dreadlocks while Spartan hoplites wore formal locks as part of their battle dress. Spartan magistrates known as Ephors also wore their hair braided in long locks, an Archaic Greek tradition that was steadily abandoned in other Greek kingdoms.
In ancient Egypt, examples of Egyptians wearing locked hairstyles and wigs have appeared on bas-reliefs (a sculptural technique where the sculpted elements remain attached to a solid background of the same material), statuary and other artifacts. Mummified remains of ancient Egyptians with locked wigs have also been recovered from archaeological sites. During the Bronze Age and Iron Age, many peoples in the Near East, Asia Minor, Caucasus, East Mediterranean and North Africa such as the Sumerians, Elamites, Akkadians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites, Amorites, Mitanni, Hattians, Hurrians, Arameans, Eblaites, Israelites, Phrygians, Lydians, Persians, Medes, Parthians, Chaldeans, Armenians, Georgians, Cilicians and Canaanites/Phoenicians/Carthaginians are depicted in art with braided or plaited hair and beards.
James the Just,
depicted with dreadlocks
The style was worn also by Ancient Christian Ascetics in the Middle East and Mediterranean, and the Dervishes of Islam, among others. Some of the very earliest adherents of Christianity in the Middle East may have worn this hairstyle; there are descriptions of James the Just, first Bishop of Jerusalem, who is said to have worn them to his ankles. In Senegal, the Baye Fall, followers of the Mouride movement, a Sufi movement of Islam founded in 1887 AD by Shaykh Aamadu Bàmba Mbàkke, are famous for growing locks and wearing multi-colored gowns. Cheikh Ibra Fall, founder of the Baye Fall school of the Mouride Brotherhood, popularized the style by adding a mystic touch to it. Warriors among the Fulani, Wolof and Serer in Mauritania, and Mandinka in Mali and Niger were known for centuries to have worn cornrows when young and dreadlocks when old.
Members of various African ethnic groups wear locks and the styles and significance may differ from one group to another. Maasai warriors are famous for their long, thin, red locks. Many people dye their hair red with root extracts or red ochre. In various cultures what are known as shamans, spiritual men or women who serve and speak to spirits or deities, often wear locks. In Nigeria, some children are born with naturally locked hair and are given a special name: "Dada". Yoruba priests of Olokun, the Orisha of the deep ocean, wear locks. Another group is the Turkana people of Kenya. In Ghana, the Akan refer to dreadlocks as Mpɛsɛ, which is the hairstyle of Akomfoɔ or priests and even common people. Along with the Asante-Akan drums known as Kete drums, this hairstyle was later adopted by Rastafarians, with roots in Jamaica from the slave trade era.
Naga Sadhu with traditional Jaata
Hindu Vedic scriptures provide some of the earliest known evidence of dreadlocks. Locks are worn in India by Sadhus or Holy men. The Nagas are ascetics and followers of the god Shiva. They wear their Jaata (locks) above their head and let them down only for special occasions and rituals. Jaata means twisted locks of hair. Indian holy men and women regard locks as sacred, considered to be a religious practice and an expression for their disregard of vanity. Within Tibetan Buddhism and other more esoteric forms of Buddhism, dreadlocks have occasionally been substituted for the more traditional shaved head. The most recognizable of these groups are known as the Ngagpas of Tibet. For many practicing Buddhists, dreadlocks are a way to let go of material vanity and excessive attachments. Dreadlocks were required for many esoteric Buddhist rituals in medieval South Asia performed by Buddhist yogis (Buddhist counterparts to contemporary Hindu sadhus). For instance, 1.4.15 of the Hevajratantra states that the practitioner "should arrange his piled up hair". In contemporary Tibetan practice matted hair is replaced by crowns with matted hair attached to them.
Pre-Columbian Aztec priests were described in Aztec codices (including the Durán Codex, the Codex Tudela and the Codex Mendoza) as wearing their hair untouched, allowing it to grow long and matted. Bernal Diaz del Castillo records:here were priests with long robes of black cloth... The hair of these priests was very long and so matted that it could not be separated or disentangled, and most of them had their ears scarified, and their hair was clotted with blood. Larry Wolff in his book Inventing Eastern Europe: The Map of Civilization on the Mind of Enlightenment mentions that in Poland, for about a thousand years, some people wore the hair style of the Scythians. Zygmunt Gloger in his Encyklopedia staropolska mentions that Polish plait (dreadlocks or plica polonica) was worn as a hair style by some people of both genders in the Pinsk region and the Masovia region at the beginning of the 19th century.
"Wichtelzopf" or "plait of a Wichtel"
Gloger argued that according to research done by the Grimm Brothers and Rosenbaum, plica polonica and the idea that it spread from Poland was an error, as it was also found among the Germanic population of Bavaria and Rhine River area. He said that the word "Weichselzopf" (Vistula plait) was a later alteration of the name "Wichtelzopf", "plait of a Wichtel"; "Wichtel" means wight in German, a being or sentient thing. Rastafari movement locks are symbolic of the Lion of Judah which is sometimes centered on the Ethiopian flag. Rastafari hold that Haile Selassie is a direct descendant of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, through their son Menelik I.
Their dreadlocks were inspired by the Nazarites of the Bible. Much like the adoption of grandiose names by individuals and organizations, the cultivation of dreadlocks in the later Rastafari movement established a closer connection between the movement and the ideology it espoused. It also gave the appearance, if not the substance, of greater authority. When reggae music gained popularity and mainstream acceptance in the 1970s thanks to Bob Marley's music and cultural influence, the locks (often called "dreads") became a notable fashion statement worldwide; they have been worn by prominent authors, actors, athletes and rappers.
In the West, since gatherings of hippies became common in the 1970s, dreadlocks have gained particular popularity among counterculture adherents such as hippies, crust punks, New Age travelers, goths and many members of the Rainbow Family. Many people from these cultures wear dreadlocks for different reasons: symbolizing a rejection of government-controlled, mass-merchandising culture, for spiritual or religious reasons, ease of grooming, etc. Members of the cybergoth subculture also often wear blatantly artificial synthetic dreads or "dreadfalls" made of synthetic hair, fabric or plastic tubing. Many black Americans as well as non-Americans have developed a large variety of ways to wear dreadlocked hair. Specific elements of these styles include the flat-twist, in which a section of locks are rolled together flat against the scalp to create an effect similar to the cornrows, and braided dreadlocks.
Woman wearing dreadlock jewelry
Examples include flat-twisted half-back styles, flat-twisted mohawk styles, braided buns and twist-outs. Locked models have appeared at fashion shows, and Rasta clothing with a Jamaican-style reggae look was sold. Even exclusive fashion brands like Christian Dior created entire Rasta-inspired collections worn by models with a variety of lock hairstyles. With dreadlocks style in vogue, the fashion and beauty industries capitalized on the trend. A completely new line of hair care products and services in salons catered to a new clientele, offering all sorts of dreadlocks hair care items such as wax (considered unnecessary and even harmful by many), shampoo, and jewelry. Hairstylists created a wide variety of modified locks, including multi-colored synthetic lock hair extensions and "dread perms", where chemicals are used to treat the hair.
As we can see, there is no single reason for a person to want to wear this style, or any particular culture that a person needs to come from to be able to wear it. Our hair is quite similar to food, you should not be limited to what is directly around you when it comes to creativity and sharing culture with each other. Hair is a topic that has long been politicized and condemned from nearly all sides of the world, because it has so much to do with our identity. But the fact is, like braids and many other styles of hair, no matter how many ways you can try to divide people, we are still united by the fact we are people; we are human, and we are more the same than we are different.
https://www.farfeatures.com/features/2017/11/16/sadhus-of-rishikesh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreadlocks
https://ajamaicaexperience.com/history-of-dreadlocks/