We are
extremely grateful to the University of Pennsylvania for their research on the
history of body piercing - www.nextbody.com
Painful as it might feel, the practice of piercing a hole
through the skin and inserting a piece of metal, bone, shell, ivory or glass to
wear as an ornament has been around for millennia. Body piercing occurs
worldwide and is practiced on men, women and children. It's grown in popularity
during the past five years, especially among American teenagers, who pierce just
about anything that can be pierced: ears, noses, tongues, and navels.
Male
with Pierced Ear
Iraq, 9th Century B.C |
Male with Multiple Ear Piercings
Suburban Philadelphia, 1998 |
| The most conventional form of piercing in the United
States today is ear piercing. Among young and old, male and female, ear
piercing is common practice and has become more mainstream for both sexes than
it once was. Ear piercing can range anywhere from a single hole in one or both
ears to holes along the entire rim of the ear. While currently trendy, multiple
piercings are nothing new: a 4000 year-old clay figurine with multiple-pierced
ears! |
Head
of Female Figurine
With holes for multiple ear piercings
Iran, 3500-2900 B.C. |
Gold
Earrings
Cyprus, Late 4th-2nd Century B.C. |
Our reasons for piercing our bodies can change over time, and may vary from
culture to culture. For example, a pair of gold earrings (left) can tell us
that the people living on the island of Cyprus 2200 years ago pierced their ears.
But this evidence can also raise questions: Were earrings worn by both men and
women then? Why did these ancient people wear gold bulls as adornment? Archaeologists
and anthropologists are always seeking answers to questions like these. |
| Among the Tlingit of southeast Alaska, we know that ear
piercing was directly related to an individual's rank in society. Social position
was determined by the wealth of the family into which the individual was born.
Although a Tlingit could rarely better his own social standing, he could raise
the station of his sister's children and his grandchildren by "potlatching"
(hosting a community feast). At a potlatch the host paid a member of his moiety
(group) to pierce the rims of the children's ears. At additional potlatches, other
holes were added. A great amount of wealth was required to host the feast and
pay the person to pierce the children's ears. Consequently, the resulting series
of holes marked an individual as a member of the nobility. |
Tlingit
Shark Tooth Earrings with Silver Catches
Alaska, 1918 |
|
Earplug
and Ear-Spools
Guatemala, A.D. 900-1500
|
The latest alternative piercing trend in some American
cities involves stretching earlobes in order to accommodate ear-spools and
earplugs. The spools and plugs of today have an amazing resemblance to those
worn by the people of ancient Mexico, including the Maya. Carved from obsidian
(a volcanic glass), they range in size from approximately one centimeter to an
inch in diameter |
|
Throughout Asia, we can also find examples
of stretched earlobes that come from wearing extremely heavy earrings. This statue
is a good example of stretched earlobes.
Other evidence of stretched lobes can be seen in details from a wall mural displayed
in the Museum's Chinese Rotunda. This woman has earrings in her ears, and you can see that her earlobes
are stretched from the weight of the earrings. This practice remains common today
on the modern Asiatic island of Borneo.
|
Pierced
Ears and Stretched Lobes
Borneo, 1988 |
Stone
Head of a Bodhisattva
with Pierced Ears
and Stretched Lobes,
China, A.D. 550-577
|
Detail
of Chinese Wall Mural
Showing a woman with pierced
ears and stretched lobes,
China, A.D. 1368-1644 |
Less mainstream in our society than
ear piercing, but becoming more popular, is lip piercing. Looking at a
person with a pierced lip may make others wonder, "Doesn't that thing click
against the teeth?"
Until the late 19th century, the Eskimo of Alaska defined social status
among groups by lip piercing. Both men and women wore lip-plugs, called labrets,
such as this ivory. |
Man with Nose, and Lip Piercings,
Suburban Philadelphia, 1998 |
Labret
Point Barrow, Alaska, 1897
|
An Eskimo man wore either one lip-plug (worn centered
to his mouth) or two (worn on either side of his mouth). A man wearing the double
labrets resembled a walrus, like this figure (right).
Young men received the labret as a type of initiation. Since holes for their labrets
were often cut when they reached puberty, a lip-plug symbolized that an Eskimo
boy had entered manhood. Eskimo women usually wore only one central lip-plug as
decoration; however, the highborn Tlingit girls wore a labret to indicate their
noble social status.
Eskimo men and women increased the size of their lip-plugs by gradually stretching
the hole in the lip. Often labrets were so large that their lips hung down, exposing
teeth and gums. Larger labrets sometimes interfered with speaking and eating and
had to be removed. |
Walrus-Man
Figure Wearing Double Labrets,
Point Barrow, Alaska, 1897 |
Man with Nose Ring,
Alaska, Late 19th Century |
Another popular
kind of piercing today in American culture is nose piercing. Nose rings
can be worn on either side of the nose or through the septum (middle). Among the
Tlingit of southeast Alaska, nose rings were considered a mark of distinction
and prestige and were worn by both men and women. Nose piercing was also popular
in Ancient Mexico and India. Today, women in India and Pakistan continue to wear
nose rings, as do many other people around the world. |
Uzma and her Nose Ring,
Philadelphia, 1998
|
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