In March of 2003, a two thousand year old body was found in County Meath, Ireland. This man, who has been named Clonycavan Man, was sporting a Mohawk hairdo with an imported styling product at the time of his murder. Since being punk has more to do with attitude than anything else, this man was expressing himself in a certain style that is associated with the punk scene. It is pretty safe to say that Clonycavan Man is the oldest punk we know about on earth. It goes without saying that he can shed a lot of light on the study of the punk scene that we believe started in the 1970's. Little do we know this group that symbolizes rebellion and resistance could have been a part of the upper class.
Clonycavan Man was found with styling gel in his hair that was from either south-western France or Spain. The other body found close to Cloncavan Man, Old Croghan Man, showed a diet high in protein and finely manicured nails. The sign of little physical labor on these two men is enough to convince anyone that they were not a part of the working class. But the evidence showing their expensive dining lifestyles and ability to purchase imported hairstyling products definitely proves that these men were upper middle class or higher.
Now we are faced with a realization. Were the original Punks upper class? Did being a punk two thousand years ago have a totally different meaning than it does today? Would I have chosen the punk lifestyle two thousand years ago?
This is an interesting discussion. I liked how you defined punk as a lifestyle of rebellion from the normal. With that description, these cavemen could have actually been a form of punk. Although, I wouldn't analysis these two men too much, after all, the only tie that you really have between them and being punk is a Mohawk. Perhaps that was just the style of the time for the upper class. A Mohawk hair style back then could actually be the normal, which would mean they were actually conforming, being the opposite of punk.
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