The History of Piercing

Piercing is the piercing of the skin and the subsequent insertion of a piece of jewelry into the resulting piercing channel. This body modification is a cultural technique that people have been using for thousands of years. The reasons for getting a piercing are varied and may have changed over the years, but despite all the changes - and hostility - piercing has never been completely forgotten. On the contrary, it is enjoying steadily increasing popularity today, across all age, population and professional groups.

But why do people get pierced?

Historical Piercings:

Just like today, people in the past were often concerned with documenting their membership of a group through their piercings. There were piercings that only certain castes and social groups, such as priests or nobles, were allowed to wear. Piercings that had a spiritual background were worn permanently or just temporarily. Piercings were used to show that the wearer had reached an important point in their development, such as becoming a fully-fledged warrior or reaching puberty. There were also piercings that had a protective function and, last but not least, they were worn simply as jewelry because they were considered beautiful.

We know from grave finds and preserved pictures and statues that Buddha had pierced and widened earlobes and that the Egyptians were also familiar with piercings. This is proven, for example, by Tutankhamun's death mask, which also shows him with stretched ear holes. The Aztecs, Indians and many Native American tribes and African peoples also adorned themselves with piercings, which were also often widened. The Hindus believed that pierced ears could protect their children from illness, and Ethiopian Mursi women considered widened lips and earlobes to be beautiful. Native Americans had their skin pierced for one of their rituals, the Sun Dance, and were connected with cords through their piercings to a tree, which they danced around for days. The piercings were then removed again. There are also examples of ritual piercings from Central America and Thailand. In Europe there is little reliable historical evidence of piercings. Journeymen, for example, often had their ears pierced at the beginning of their journeyman years (Walz) as a visible sign of their status.

Modern piercings:

Even today, it is common in many subcultures, such as goths, punks, hippies, rockers and SM and fetish fans, to name just a few, to wear tattoos and piercings as an expression of a certain attitude to life. However, the aspect of differentiation is often overrated, because piercing and tattoo wearers are not primarily concerned with differentiating themselves, as is so often assumed. Rather, it is important to them to express their uniqueness, aesthetics and their own attitude to life through their body modifications. It is about self-expression and living out an ideal of beauty that may differ from the generally accepted one, but is no less valid for that.

Many people also wear piercings that are not visible at first glance, such as belly button , breast or genital piercings . In addition, surveys have shown that many people get tattoos or piercings to create a permanent symbol of important events. These often include crises that have been overcome, relationships that have ended or started, graduation, marriage or the birth of a child. Many confirm that they are reminded of their own strength or of happy moments when they look at their piercing.

In addition to the aesthetic and emotional reasons for wearing a piercing, there are also sexual ones, as a whole range of piercings have a sexually stimulating effect and are therefore worn by both men and women.

Three of the most colorful characters and, among others, the founding fathers of the modern piercing movement are Jim Ward, Fakir Musafar (Roland Laomis) and Doug Malloy (Richard Simonton). Jim Ward opened the legendary Gauntlet Store in West Hollywood at the end of the 1970s, which has produced many famous piercers over the years. Ward worked constantly to improve piercing techniques and the jewelry used. We owe him, among other things, the barbell in its current form. He was also co-editor of a piercing magazine, PFIQ (Piercing Fans International Quarterly).

Fakir Musafar discovered his love for piercing at the tender age of twelve and experimented with many types of body shaping throughout his life. He edited various magazines on the subject and also wrote and photographed for PFIQ, among others. He is also considered one of the co-founders of Modern Primitives (also Urban Primitives), who, in their sometimes quite spectacular body modifications, draw on models from so-called primitive cultures.

Doug Malloy supported Jim Ward in his early days financially and through his extensive contacts. He also wrote numerous articles on the subject of piercing, helping to make it more well-known and popular.

The materials:

Many of the original materials, such as bone and horn , amber, wood , semi-precious stones, precious metals and glass, some of which people have been using for thousands of years, are still used to make jewellery today. While originally it was mainly wood, stones, bone or horn that were processed into jewellery, people's options and skills grew over the centuries. For example, they used their growing skills in metalworking not only to make ever better weapons, but also to make jewellery.

In the meantime, numerous materials have been added. These include stainless steel (316 L, surgical steel), titanium, PTFE, bioflex, acrylic and plastic.

The jewelry:

Among the historical jewelry finds are some breathtaking pieces, for example the plugs worn in expanded piercings or the creoles and studs worn as earrings. Modern piercing jewelry as we know it, such as clamp and segment rings, bars, bananas and horseshoes, have mainly been developed since the 1970s. New materials such as titanium and stainless steel have not only enormously improved the safety of piercings, but have also made some piercing methods, such as microdermals, possible in the first place. Bioflex bars ensure that piercings in the mouth area no longer damage tooth enamel, and piercing jewelry made of bioflex can even be worn in the belly button piercing during pregnancy because it adapts to the shape of the body.

No end in sight

Piercing is not a story with an end, because new forms of body modification are constantly being invented, as well as matching piercing jewelry. Experiments are also being carried out with new materials. Because when it comes to piercing, too, people's imagination is inexhaustible.