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| Moai at Rano Raraku, Easter Island (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
If
you have ever travelled to Africa, you may have learned a little
something about body modification. Stretched earlobes in particular
are very common with a number of the native tribes including the
Maaia in East Africa and the Mursi in Ethiopia. However, traditional
body modification is not soley found in Africa, ear stretching is
also common in Asian countries like Thailand and in South America
stretched lobes are commonplace among member of the Huaorami who
lives in the Amazon Basin. Of course you probably wouldn't need leave
home to see ear stretching as it is becoming so common these days,
but I always think it is good to see where things originated on and
that is why end up going off on a tangent researching stuff on the
internet!
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| Ötzi the Iceman while still frozen in the glacier, photographed by Helmut Simon upon the discovery of the body in September 1991 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
In
fact, that is how I came across Ötzi the Iceman! Ötzi is a 5300
year old mummified body which was discovered in the Alps somewhere
between Austria and Italy. He is believed to be one of the oldest
specimens with body modifications. His body is not only adorned with
several tattoos, but he also had a stretched earlobe about 11mm in
diameter. Pretty cool huh? (WOW! Bad joke). Another famous example of
body modification can be seen in the infamous giant heads on Easter
Island many of which have stretched ears. They are often referred to
as 'long ears'. There is a story that goes along with the statues.
Apparently, the statues were carved in honour of the inhabitants of
Easter Island and depicted their stretched ears. However, when a
rival tribe of 'short ears' arrived on the island they were enslaved
by the 'long ears'. The numbers of short ears increased over time and
they were soon able to overthrow the long ears which is why the heads
are toppled over.
Throughout
history, people have engaged in ear stretching for various reasons.
In certain cultures it is performed as a coming of age ritual while
others do so to enhance their attractiveness. One of the things I
love most about travel is that it allows me to get to know other
cultures! Maybe I should add Easter Island to the bucket list.
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