The Suebian knot (german: Suebenknoten) is a historical male hairstyle ascribed to the tribe of the Germanic

Suebi The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own name ...

. The knot is attested by Tacitus in his 1st century AD work ''Germania'', found on contemporary depictions of

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...

, their art, and bog bodies.

''Germania''

Roman historian Tacitus reports in '' Germania'' (98 CE) that the Suebian warriors combed their hair back or sideways and tied it into a knot, allegedly with the purpose of appearing taller and more awe-inspiring on the battlefield. Tacitus also reports that the fashion had spread to neighboring Germanic tribes among the younger warriors, while among the Suebians, the knot was sported even by old men as a status symbol, which "distinguishes the freeman from the slave", with the most artful knots worn by the most wealthy nobles:

Archaeological record

A number of bog bodies have been found with hair dressed in Suebian knots: *

Osterby Man Osterby Man or the Osterby Head ( da, Østerbymanden) is a bog body of which only the skull and hair survived. It was discovered in 1948 by peat cutters to the southeast of Osterby, Germany. The hair is tied in a Suebian knot. The head is at the ...

, 70–220 AD of Osterby near Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany * Dätgen Man, 135–385 AD, of Dätgen, near Rendsburg-Eckernförde, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany In 2000 at the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

coast at Czarnowko near Lębork, Poland, a bronze kettle was found depicting males wearing the Suebian knot hairstyle.

Depictions

Historical depictions are found on the Trajan column, the cauldron of Musov, the Tropaeum Traiani relief, and a bronze sculpture of a kneeling German in the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

Method

The hair is divided at the back in two uniform strands, slicked and laid in opposite directions around the head. On one side of the head, usually in the temporal region, the two strands are individually tightened in the same direction. The two strands are then twisted, whereby the rotation of the two individual strands loosens somewhat. A loop is formed from the resulting braid and the excess braid end is put in a loop through the loop. By natural untwisting the resulting knot tightens and stops without further aids. The

had

male-pattern hair loss Pattern hair loss (also known as androgenetic alopecia (AGA)) is a hair loss condition that primarily affects the top and front of the scalp. In male-pattern hair loss (MPHL), the hair loss typically presents itself as either a receding front ha ...

and very long and thin hair. Experimental archaeological tests with this hairstyle showed that the Suebian knot holds just as well even with very long and thin hair, as in the bog body.Haak: ''Einige Bemerkungen zum so genannten „Suebenknoten“''. S. 179. Some hair grease improves the durability of the hairstyle.

Gallery

Image:Wappen von Osterby bei Eckernfoerde in Deutschland.png, A Suebian knot depicted on the coat of arms of Osterby,

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...

, Northern Germany. File:Germanic Head Somzée.jpg, Marble head form Somzée, Belgium File:Dätgen Mans Hairs.jpg, Hair of bog body Dätgen Man (Germany) File:Bronze figure of a German Bibliothèque Nationale.jpg, A Roman bronze figurine depicting a kneeling Germanic man adorned with a Suebian knot

File:Vindobona Hoher Markt-79.JPG, German at Wien Museum File:Sarcofago dio portonaccio, 03.JPG,

Portonaccio sarcophagus The Portonaccio sarcophagus is a 2nd-century ancient Roman sarcophagus found in the Portonaccio section of Rome and now held at the Museo Nazionale Romano ( Palazzo Massimo). Dating to around 180 AD, the sarcophagus was likely used to bury a Roma ...

(Man on the lower right side) File:Terracotta German at British Museum.jpg, Terra cotta mask at

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

File:Mušov Cauldron.jpg,

Mušov Mušov (german: Muschau) is a cadastral area and a defunct village in the municipality of Pasohlávky, South Moravian Region, Czech Republic. It covers an area of . Geography and history Mušov was the lowest-lying village in the Břeclav Dis ...

cauldron File:IArta romana prizonier MG 1761 02.JPG, Captive with Suebian knot

National Museum of Romanian History The National History Museum of Romania ( ro, Muzeul Național de Istorie a României) is a museum located on the Calea Victoriei in Bucharest, Romania, which contains Romanian historical artifacts from prehistoric times up to modern times. The mus ...

File:Bracteate from Funen, Denmark (DR BR42).jpg, A Migration Period Germanic gold bracteate featuring a depiction of a bird, horse, and stylized head wearing a Suebian knot. File:AdamclisiMetope37.jpg, War scene of the Tropaeum Traiani: a Roman legionary fighting with a Dacian warrior, while a Buri warrior, who has a Suebian knot, is wounded on the ground.

References