Body piercing began with the first tribes and clans, the oldest human races - from the jungle tribes in South America, Africa and Indonesia.

Body piercing is one of the oldest and most interesting forms of adornment and/or body modification, yet the reasons for piercing the body are as diverse as the cultures they come from.

Body piercing usually refers to the piercing of a part of the human body for the purpose of wearing jewelry in the opening created. Body piercing is a form of body modification. The word "piercing" can refer to the act or practice of body piercing, or to a specific pierced opening in the body. Some people practice piercing for religious or other cultural reasons, while many individuals, particularly in the modern West, choose to be pierced for spiritual, ornamental, or male/female reasons.

Evidence suggests that body piercing (including ear piercing) has been practiced by peoples all over the world from ancient times. Mummified bodies with piercings have been discovered, including the oldest mummified body discovered to date, that of Otzi the Iceman, which was found in an Austrian glacier. This mummy had an ear piercing 7-11 mm in diameter.

Nose piercing and ear piercing are mentioned in the Bible. In Genesis 24:22, Abraham's servant gave a nose ring and bracelets to Rebekah, wife of his son Isaac. In Exodus 32, Aaron makes the golden calf from melted earrings. Deuteronomy 15:12-17 dictates ear piercing as a mark of slavery.

Nose piercing was practiced among the nomadic Berber and Beja tribes of Africa, and the Bedouins of the Middle East, the size of the ring denotes the wealth of the family. It is given by the husband to his wife at the marriage, and is her security if she is divorced.

Nose piercing has been common in India since the 16th century. Nose piercing was bought to India in the 16th Century from the Middle East by the Moghul emperors. In India a stud (Phul) or a ring (Nath) is usually worn in the left nostril, It is sometimes joined to the ear by a chain, and in some places both nostrils are pierced. The left side is the most common to be pierced in India, because that is the spot associated in Ayuvedra (Indian medicine) with the female reproductive organs, the piercing is supposed to make childbirth easier and lessen period pain. Some women in India pierce their noses to induce a state of submissiveness. They claim this happens by proper placement in a marma or acupuncture point.

Tongue piercing was popular in Mesoamerica with the elite of Aztec and Maya civilizations, though it was carried out as part of a blood ritual and such piercings were not intended to be permanent. Ancient Mesoamericans wore jewelry in their ears, noses, and lower lips, and such decorations continue to be popular amongst indigenous peoples in these regions.

Tongue piercing was always practiced by the Haida, Kwakiutul, and Tlinglit tribes of the American Northwest. The tongue was pierced to draw blood to propitiate the gods, and to create an altered state of consciousness so that the priest or shaman could communicate with the gods.

The Pharahos of Egypt also practiced body piercing.

It has been practiced for as long as five thousand years. It has, in the beginning, as it is now, been used as a personal expression, a religious ritual, an official, or royal distinction, or more often recently, a trend in fashion.

Approximately 1440 BC. The book of Exodus 21: 5-6 describes how Hebrew servants that pledged allegiance to their master would have their ear held to a door post and pierced with an awl. This would indicate identification with a particular family.

The philosophers of Greece and the soldiers of Rome. The Centurions from ancient Rome expressed their strength and virility by displaying pierced - jeweled nipples.

All the way up to the middle classes, and the aristocracy of the 18th and 19th century. It was all but forgotten in Europe during the early 1900's, what with two world wars, and the concerns of a growing world, until the 1970's where it found itself being nurtured by London's pioneering fashion gurus and artists in the Underground!

In some parts of Australia and New Guinea one tribal custom is a pierced septum, giving the warrior a fierce savage appearance. In Borneo a man could choose to have pierced genitals for courtship and sexual enhancement reasons.

Ethiopian men and women have various facial piercings and some are identified by oversized ear discs. Lip plates in the women help to gain social status and command a higher bridal price.

Sioux Indians: a young man on his journey to manhood would have his crest pierced with eagle claws and then hang suspended in the air enduring the pain in this rite of passage.

By the 1990's, piercing had finally reached the attention of the entire globe closing the link from the ancients, to the modern.

In our culture we have brought to the mainstream some of these ancient and tribal practices as well as creating our Neo-Tribal customs. The big difference here is the expression of self choice. In our more permissive modern day society an individual can pierce their body for any number of the reasons listed above, but is not limited or obligated to a specific set of rules or conduct.

Another unique principal behind modern day piercing is that unless the piercing has been overstretched, it can be viewed as temporary. The person can take out the jewelry if he/she desires and re-transform their "look" again and again.

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