Labret
Mixteca-Puebla, Postclassic, ca. 1500 CE
Labrets or lip plugs (bezotes in Spanish) were decorations worn through a hole pierced in the lower lip. They have an uneven distribution in the ancient Americas and appear sporadically in such places as coastal Alaska, the Northwest Coast, and at various other points along the Pacific Coast. They also appeared in Central Mexico, where they became one of the defining culture traits of Mesoamerica.
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I got 4 new piercings today and I feel poked pretty.
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Labret piercing by antsyboy on Instagram.
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happy early birthday to myself ✨
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Serpent Labret with Articulated Tongue
Aztec, 1300–1521 CE
Superbly crafted in the shape of a serpent ready to strike, this labret—a type of plug inserted through a piercing below the lower lip—is a rare survival of what was once a thriving tradition of gold-working in the Aztec Empire. Gold, in Aztec belief, was teocuitlatl, a godly excrement, closely associated with the sun’s power, and ornaments made of it were worn by Aztec rulers and nobles. Historical sources describe a variety of objects made of gold, including a serpent labret sent by Hernán Cortés as a gift to the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, yet nearly all of these objects were melted down at the time of the Conquest and shortly thereafter, converted to gold ingots for ease of transport and trade.
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