Septum Piercing

(photo by Adam Woolfitt at http://www.corbisimages.com)

The practice of decorating the body with jewelry and ink has a long history stretching back at least 5000 years. Some of the earliest tattoos and piercings have been found on the mummies of ancient Egyptian women from 2000 B.C.E and the world famous “Iceman” found frozen in the Alps between the Austrian and Italian border, about 5,200 years old. Among ancient cultures, the purpose of piercings and tattoos were ritualistic, symbolic, and a form of identification.

One of the most common piercings found in many ancient and contemporary cultures is the piercing of the septum. The septum is the small wall of cartilage that divides the nostrils. This piercing can be found primarily in areas that contain primitive and warrior tribal cultures such as Papua New Guinea, Irian Jaya, the Solomon Islands, Nepal, Tibet, India, Panama and Washington State. The Kuna Yala of Panama use this piercing along with many others to display their wealth (above).