Aztec Tribal Piercings. Aztec Nose Rings, Lip Plugs, Ear Spools

Tribal piercing served an important role in Aztec society. Preucel, in Contemporary Archaeology in Theory, refers to images of Aztec youths found within the Aztec codices: Codex Mendoza depicts ear spools on a boy of age 15 going to the telpochcalli, and on a girl of the same age being married. Only members of the senior nobility and Aztec rulers were allowed to wear gold and precious stones, a strictly enforced aspect of Aztec social hierarchy. Aztec rulers would typically wear elaborately crafted turquoise or gold ear plugs. Aztec Lip Plugs According to historian Ian Heath, Aztec lip plugs were often several inches long and, depending upon the rank of the wearer, were made of various materials including gold, amber, jade, rock crystal, flint and conch shell. The wearing of lip plugs, also known as labrets, was strictly controlled in Aztec society; only the Aztec nobility and members of the Aztec warrior classes were permitted to wear them. Lip pugs made from gold and precious stones were, as with ear spools, exclusive to the nobility, the priesthood and the Aztec ruler, the latter often wearing a large eagle-shaped gold labret.