Labrets in Africa and Amazonia: medical implications and cultural determinants

Abstract

The custom of wearing labrets has a long tradition. Labrets appeared independently several thousand years ago in various culture groups in Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas. Today, apart from diverse body modifications as increasingly practiced in western civilisations, lip plates and plugs are found among a small number of tribal groups only in Africa and Amazonia. We summarise the history of labrets in different societies, describe medical consequences of wearing lip plates and plugs for jaws and teeth and address relevant cultural issues.

Scarification in sub‐Saharan Africa: social skin, remedy and medical import

“…A (see Ref. ) (photograph: M. Garve, 2001); (c) Toposa woman in South Sudan (photograph: W. Moritz, 2012).…”

“…We recently described the tradition of infant oral mutilation in indigenous groups in Africa and the customs of labret and lip plug wearing in several ethnic groups in Amazonia and Africa, including their medical consequences . Here, we focus on scarification, or cicatrisation, among indigenous ethnic groups in sub‐Saharan Africa.…”

Biocultural diversity in Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene Africa: Olduvai Hominid 1 (Tanzania) biological affinity and intentional body modification

“…The symmetry and depth of wear-decreasing from central to lateral incisor and canine-are common characteristics of midline, or "medial" (following Keddie, 1981), lower lip piercings in North American bioarchaeological remains (Cybulski, 2010;Willman, personal observation). Such facial ornamentation is documented in archaeological contexts across the African continent (Addison, 1949;Honegger, 2004;MacDonald, 1999;Mattingly et al, 2009;Mukherjee et al, 1955;Petit-Maire & Riser, 1983;Salvatori & Usai, 2016;Santoni et al, 2006) and is well-known in African ethnohistoric records in numerous forms (Aanestad & Poulsen, 1996;Garve et al, 2017;Gauthier & Wangermez, 1964;Labouret, 1952;LaTosky, 2006;Mac-Donald, 1999;Schweinfurth, 1874;Seligman, 2015;Wayland, 1931).…”

“…One such form of body modification that produces unintentional dental (and occasionally, osseous) modification is the use of facial piercings (e.g., "labrets", "lip plugs", "lipstuds", "lip discs", etc. ; henceforth: labrets) (Alt & Pichler, 1998;Cybulski, 1974Cybulski, , 2010Cybulski, Balkwill, Young, & Sutherland, 1992;Dietze et al, 2007;Garve, Garve, Türp, & Meyer, 2017;MacDonald, 1999;Mukherjee, Trevor, & Rao, 1955;Pedersen, 1952Pedersen, , 1955Santoni et al, 2006;Torres-Rouff, 2003. Indeed, facial piercings were documented historically (Colette, 1933;Gupta, 1986;Huntingford, 1961;Labouret, 1952;Schweinfurth, 1875; also see citations in Insoll, 2015;MacDonald, 1999;Seligman, 2015) and archaeologically in Africa (Addison, 1949;Mukherjee et al, 1955;Petit-Maire & Riser, 1983; also see citations in Insoll, 2015;MacDonald, 1999) when Parsche (1993) conducted his analysis, but were not considered in any previous evaluation of the OH1 labial wear.…”

“…Wear of this form is commonly documented among wearers of ornaments fixed in piercings through the lower lip in ethnographic, clinical, and bioarchaeological contexts (Addison, 1949;Aigner & Veltre, 1976;Alt & Pichler, 1998;Croucher, 2012;Cybulski, 1974Cybulski, , 2010Cybulski et al, 1992;Dietze et al, 2007;Erdal, 2013;Garve et al, 2017;Hole, Flannery, & Neely, 1969;Keddie, 1981;MacDonald, 1999;Mattingly et al, 2009;Mukherjee et al, 1955;Pedersen, 1952Pedersen, , 1955Salvatori & Usai, 2009Santoni et al, 2006;Torres-Rouff, 2003. The symmetry and depth of wear-decreasing from central to lateral incisor and canine-are common characteristics of midline, or "medial" (following Keddie, 1981), lower lip piercings in North American bioarchaeological remains (Cybulski, 2010;Willman, personal observation).…”