History and culture Stretching (body piercing)

1 history , culture

1.1 king tutankhamen
1.2 iceman
1.3 gautama buddha
1.4 easter island heads
1.5 mursi tribal women
1.6 maasai people of kenya
1.7 african fulani tribe
1.8 asian hill tribes
1.9 mexican , central american civilizations
1.10 celtic tribes

history , culture

karen woman stretched earlobes

tribes in various countries in africa, eurasia, america , other lands have practiced ritual of ear stretching cultural, religious , traditional purposes. ritual has been practiced people on world ancient times. bone, horn, wood, , stone carved ear stretching, other organic materials had right shape naturally, shells teeth , claws, used.

many young, western people adopted practice of stretching ear lobes in order stand out , different in society. seems give impression modern practice, although not. practice of stretching ear lobes, tattooing, scarring, branding, , hairstyles has been found old recorded human history. historically, practice has been used purpose of tribal status, scare enemies in war, , beauty purposes. has been , still common practice people regardless of gender. men, has been used historically indicate standing members of specific tribe. bigger stretching, higher ranking male had. women, ear stretching more decorative purposes , signifies when girl has reached womanhood. these purposes still important , used today many tribes , cultures.

there many examples of different tribes , cultures use art , practice of stretching.

king tutankhamen

the ancient egyptian pharaoh tutankhamun 1 of earliest known rulers have stretched ear lobes. can seen in 1 of more famous images on sarcophagus. instrument used stretch pharaoh s ears unknown, there many possibilities including bamboo or wooden plugs.

the iceman

mummified bodies stretched earlobes have been discovered, including oldest mummified body discovered date: Ötzi iceman (3300bc). iceman found in alps between austria , italy. european mummy had stretch of somewhere between 7–11 millimeters (0.28–0.43 in) in diameter.

gautama buddha

gautama buddha, aristocratic , wealthy prince, had long stretched ears. wore heavy gold earrings or precious stones status symbol, , weight stretched ear lobes dramatically. when renounced wealth , discarded jewelry, ear lobes permanently stretched. way of remembering buddha s act of personal self-sacrifice in walking away wealth, succeeding images of gautama buddha show stretched ear lobes without jewellery.

easter island heads

stretched earlobes can found on heads of giant statues on easter island, giving them title ‘long ears’. said original inhabitants of easter island carved heads depict themselves. when tribe arrived island, given title ‘short ears’. ‘long ears’ enslave ‘short ears’ until there more ‘short ears’ overthrow them.

mursi tribal women

the mursi nilotic tribe inhabiting nile valley, known women decorating wooden plates in both ears , bottom lip. around age of fifteen , year before marriage, young woman has lip , ears pierced mother. pushes wooden peg through each piercing. after healing process, pegs changed , go in diameter (usually 8–22 cm). once desired size reached, young woman receives higher degree of respect without piercings.

the maasai people of kenya

for thousands of years, both men , women have been stretching ears although today, more women men follow practice. originally, piercing done sharpened object such point of knife or thorn. heavy jewelry placed in hole increase size. maasai known using materials such animal bones, wood, stone, , tusks jewelry.

the african fulani tribe

the fulani tribe nigeria , central africa. @ age of 3 years, girls have ears pierced not stretched until older. these women stretch ears smaller diameter, unlike mursi , masai tribes, can wear hoops , large gold domes.

asian hill tribes

the lahu tribe thailand , karen-padaung myanmar 2 known asian tribes practice ear stretching. both believe should wear jewelry possible because ears revered sacred.

mexican , central american civilizations

aztec , mayan men traditionally known have had stretched ears. aztecs crafted plugs gold , silver higher-class men whereas lower class wore materials such shells, wood, , copper. same idea can seen mayans. high-class men wore jade plugs, , rest of society used bone, stone, , wood.

celtic tribes

in late bronze age, more elaborate forms of metalworking had been developed, , twisted gold collars known torcs more popular, many items embossed patterns.

particularly intriguing ear adornments, flat cylinders 1 cm high , 7 cm in diameter. when these first discovered thought boxes, nobody knew people might have kept in them. discovered ancient irish pierce ears , stretch hole in earlobe enormous size. ear adornments held in earlobe holes.