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The History of Body Piercings - Ancient and
Fascinating Around the World
Lucy P. Roberts
Body piercings have seen a resurgence of interest in the last ten
to twenty years and are becoming more and more a part of the
mainstream Western culture. Take a look at any fashion or
entertainment magazine and you’ll see plenty of well-known
celebrities with body piercings like navel rings or a labret. You
might be surprised to find out that piercing is actually an
ancient form of expression that most cultures have practiced at
some time or other for thousands of years.
Egyptian body piercings reflected status and love of beauty
The earliest known mummified remains of a human that was pierced
is over 5,000 years old. This worthy gentleman had his ears
pierced with larger-gauge plugs in his ears, so plugs may be one
of the oldest forms of body modification there is! We also know
that the Egyptians loved to adorn themselves elaborately, and
even restricted certain types of body piercings to the royal
family. In fact, only pharaoh himself could have his navel
pierced. Any one else who tried to get a belly button ring could
be executed. (Tell that to Britney Spears!) Almost every well-to-
do Egyptian wore earrings, though, to display their wealth and
accent their beauty. Elaborate enameled and gold earrings
frequently portrayed items in nature such as lotus blossoms.
Body piercings are also mentioned in the Bible. In the Old
Testament it’s obvious that body jewelry is considered a mark of
beauty and wealth, especially for Bedouin and nomadic tribes. In
many cases, body jewelry was given as a bridal gift or as part of
a dowry. It is clear that piercing was a sign of status and
attractiveness in Biblical times.
Romans were practical piercers
Romans were very practical people, and for them piercing almost
always served a purpose. Roman centurions pierced their nipples
not because they liked the way it looked, but to signify their
strength and virility. It was a badge of honor that demonstrated
the centurion’s dedication to the Roman Empire. As a symbol, it
was important and served a specific function, unifying and
bonding the army. Even Julius Caesar pierced his nipples to show
his strength and his identification with his men.
piercing through the head of the was performed on
gladiators, who were almost always slaves, for two reasons. A
ring through the head of the could be used to tie the organ
back to the testicles with a length of leather. In gladiatorial
combat, this prevented serious injury.
With a large enough ring or bar, it also prevented the slave from
having without the owner’s consent. Since the gladiator was
“property,” a stud fee could be charged to another slave owner
for the highly prized opportunity to raise the next generation of
great fighter.
Making love or war, piercing makes it better
Going across the ocean at around the same time, the Aztecs, Maya
and some American Indians practiced tongue piercing as part of
their religious rituals. It was thought to bring them closer to
their gods and was a type of ritual blood-letting. The Aztec and
Maya were warrior tribes, and also practiced septum piercing in
order to appear fiercer to their enemies. Nothing looks quite as
frightening as an opponent sporting a huge boar tusk thrust
through his nose!
This practice was also common among tribes in New Guinea and the
Solomon Islands. Some of the materials commonly used were bone,
tusks and feathers. Hundreds of years later, French fur trappers
in Washington State discovered American Indian tribes who wore
bones through their septum and called them the Nez Perce, meaning
“Pierced Noses” in French. It’s interesting that civilizations
separated by thousands of miles and even centuries often
developed a love for the same kind of body piercings to enhance
certain features, isn’t it?
In Central and South America, lip labrets were popular for purely
aesthetic reasons – women with pierced lips were considered more
attractive. In fact, the holes were often stretched to incredible
size as progressively larger wooden plates were inserted to
emphasize the lips as much as possible. (Kind of like collagen
today).
The Aztecs and Maya also sported lip labrets of gold and jade,
many of them elaborately carved into mythical or religious
figures or sporting gemstones. These were seen as highly
attractive and to enhance
As the world moved into the dark ages, interest in piercing died
down somewhat and the medieval church began to condemn it as
sinful. For a few hundred years, Western civilization abandoned
the practice. As the Renaissance went into full swing, however,
interest in piercing began to pick up again.
A new era and a new interest in body piercings
Sailors became convinced that piercing one ear would improve
their long-distance site, and so the site of a sailor with a gold
or brass ring became common. Word also spread that should a
sailor be washed ashore after a shipwreck, the finder should keep
the gold ring in exchange for providing a proper Christian
burial. Sailors were both religious and superstitious, so they
generally spent a lot for a large gold earring to hedge their
bets.
Men became much more fashion-conscious during the Renaissance and
Elizabethan eras, and almost any male member of the nobility
would have at least one earring, if not more. Large pearl drops
and enormous diamond studs were a great way to advertise your
wealth and standing in the community. It could also designate
royal favor if your earring was a gift from a member of the royal
family.
Women, not wanting to be outshone by the men in all their finery,
began to wear plunging necklines, with the Queen of Bavaria
introducing the most outrageous, which consisted of not much at
all above the waist. In order to adorn themselves, women began
piercing their nipples to show off their jewelry. Soon they began
wearing chains and even strands of pearls draped between the two.
Men and women both discovered that these nipple piercings were
also delightful playthings in bed, adding sensitivity to the
breasts and giving the men both visual and tactile stimulation.
Men began getting pierced purely for pleasure as well. While not
entirely mainstream, piercing of the and, occasionally,
continued to hold interest for members of the upper
crust of society in Europe on and off for the next few hundred
years.
The next resurgence of interest was, surprisingly, during the
Victorian age, which is usually seen as very repressed. Prince
Albert, future husband of Queen Victoria, is said to have gotten
the piercing that is named after him in order wear the
tight-fitting trousers so popular at the time. The ring could
then be attached to a hook on the inside of one pant leg, tucked
safely away between the legs for a neat, trim look. Although we
have no record of Victoria’s response to the piercing itself,
there is ample evidence she was wildly in love with her husband
and almost never left his side after their marriage!
Soon, Victorian men were getting Prince Albert's, frenums and a
variety of other piercings purely for the pleasurable
effects, and women were doing the same. By the 1890’s, it was
almost expected that a woman would have her pierced. In
fact, some doctors at the time suggested it improved conditions
for breastfeeding, although not all agreed. It was an interesting
double standard –- plenty of people were doing it, but no one was
talking about it.
Modern-day body piercings
In the last hundred years or so, body piercings in the Western
world have mostly been limited to the ears, a standard hold-over
from the fact that both men and women wore earrings during
Elizabethan times. The Puritan movement did away with men wearing
earrings, however, and it didn’t really regain popularity until
recently.
Nose rings found new interest when young people (they were called
hippies then) from the U.S. began traveling in India extensively
looking for enlightenment in the 1960’s. They noticed the nostril
rings that most women had been wearing there since the sixteenth
century. In India, this was a form of traditional, accepted
adornment and was often linked to an earring by a chain. For
rebellious teens from America, it was a great form of rebellion.
After bringing nose piercings back to the U.S., the interest in
body piercings of all kinds quickly caught on during the 1980’s
and 1990’s. Celebrities, sports stars and singers all began
sporting a variety of piercings. Soon, high school students and
even stay-at-home moms were flashing new body piercings. And the
rest, as they say, is history!
Lori Wilkerson is a full-time freelance writer who loves her work
because it gives her the opportunity to learn more about the
world every day. Right now, she knows a little bit about almost
everything, and a lot about body jewelry, belly button rings and
tongue rings. She has two dogs who are spoiled and one teenager
who is not.
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