Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg
Plica polonica (Polish kołtun, Polish plait)
The "Polish plait" or the "koltun" was a way to use substances such as
honey, or wine mixed with sugar, or wax to style hair: a viscous substance
that might also be associated with insect infestation or bad odors, and
more often this hairstyle was used by uneducated peasants. Thus the Polish
plait was viewed as a filthy manner living, based upon superstitions. Why
superstitious beliefs? A pagen view was that "koltun zapuszczony" or
"Hexenzoph" (witches' plait) was a place where living disease would leave
the body to reside in the hair.
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