History of Ear Piercing             

             Dangle Earrings and Beaded Earrings

 Piercing of the ear lobe was probably man's first attempt at body piercing and that was because your ear lobe was so easy to pierce. The oldest mummified body in the world was found frozen in an Austrian Glacier in 1991, tests have confirmed the body to be over 5,000 years old. The body had the ears pierced and the holes where enlarged to 7-11mm diameter.
 
It is thought that they pierced their ears for magical purposes, many very primitive tribes believed that demons could enter the body through the ears. Because demons and sprits where supposed to be repelled by metal, they thought it would prevent them from entering there bodies.  Sailors had their ears pierced to improve their eyesight, and if their body happened to wash up on shore it could pay for their cristian burial. In alot of societies piercing is done at puberty and in Borneo there is a ritual that the mother and father of a child will each have one ear pierced as a symbol of the child's dependance on them.   

Years ago many societies developed ear piercing and it represents many things, wealth, power and courage. For the  Romans it represented wealth and luxury.And earrings where wore by more  men than women. At various times in history men have worn elaborate earrings, during the Elizabethan era men such as Shakepeare, Sir Walter Raliegh and Francis Drake wore gold rings in there ears. It is hard to say where ear piercing originated from, many cultures practice piercing. It was commonly practiced in many ancient societies.
                                               History of Earrings

    Earrings originated in the Middle East? The oldest earrings were unearthed at the royal graves in Iraq.   In the Renaissance era, earrings were not at all popular. Women wore wigs, elaborate hairstyles and high collared dresses obscuring the ears. It was not until the 17th century when women wore their hair back that earrings were back in fashion. In the early 18th century, women wore bonnets with wide ribbons covering the ears and chins. And once again earrings became obsolete. In late 18th century, however, hair went back up and earrings were popular again!

In the early 20th century, piercing of the ears was considered uncivilized and a screw back type of fitting was invented so that ear piercing was no longer necessary. The beginning of emancipation for women! Around 1930's, clip-ons were invented and then screw-ons. Both styles were widely used for earrings for the next 40 years. Since then, earrings have indeed been revolutionized. Earrings are fun, lots of movements, made of all shapes, sizes, materials and stones and are worn day and night!

Beginning the 70's, ear piercing became the fad. Most contemporary earrings are for pierced ears nowadays.