"In some parts of the world, people cut holes in their lips for the insertion of plugs or buttons. To such ornaments the name labret is frequently given"------1926, Clark Wissler, "The Relation Of Nature To Man In Aboriginal America," p. 61.
    "The labret, among American aborigines, is well known to be a plug, stud or variously-shaped button, made from various materials, which is inserted at or about the age of puberty through a hole or holes pierced in the thinner portions of the face about the mouth."--------1884, W. H. Dall, "On Masks, Labrets, And Certain Aboriginal Customs, With An Inquiry Into The Bearing Of Their Geographical Distribution," Third Annual Report Of The Bureau Of Ethnology To The Secretary Of The Smithsonian Institution, pp. 77-78.
    "They (labrets) are worn in some tribes by women only, in others by men only, in still others by both sexes, in which case the style of the labret is different for each sex."----1884, W. H. Dall, "On Masks, Labrets, And Certain Aboriginal Customs, With An Inquiry Into The Bearing Of Their Geographical Distribution," Third Annual Report Of The Bureau Of Ethnology To The Secretary Of The Smithsonian Institution, p. 78.
     "The first descriptions by Europeans (in 1741) of the use by Alaskan peoples of tattoo and labrets refer to the Aleuts and Pacific Eskimos."----1988, Joy Gritton, "Labrets And Tattooing In Native Alaska," Marks Of Civilization, p. 181.
     "Labrets (in Alaska) could be made of a variety of materials: stone (quartz, agate, jadite, serpentine or slate), graphite, glass, bone, wood or ivory."----1988, Joy Gritton, "Labrets And Tattooing In Native Alaska," Marks Of Civilization, p. 186.
   "The decline of these two permanent modes of adornment (labrets & tattooing) has generally been attributed to intense efforts on the part of Christian missionaries to eradicate aspects of dress, grooming, and ritual they found offensive."----1988, Joy Gritton, "Labrets And Tattooing In Native Alaska," Marks Of Civilization, p. 181.
    "The world distribution of labrets is very limited. From my observations independent development of labrets seems to be a rare occurrence. Labrets originate and disperse from a maximum of six localities in the world."----1989, Grant Keddie, "Symbolism And Context: The World History Of The Labret And Cultural Diffusion On The Pacific Rim," p. 7.
    "I refer to the use of labrets, which for brevity may be called labretifery."---------1884, W. H. Dall, "On Masks, Labrets, And Certain Aboriginal Customs, With An Inquiry Into The Bearing Of Their Geographical Distribution," Third Annual Report Of The Bureau Of Ethnology To The Secretary Of The Smithsonian Institution, p. 77.

 
LABRETS
(WORLDWIDE DATE)
10,700 YEARS AGO TO PRESENT DAY
ALASKA, MEXICO, PERU

     Labrets are items of adornment that were worn around the mouth in patterns of one or more separate pieces. They are held in place with a flanged or flared edge. Labrets are placed through a hole that is pierced through the skin either above or below the lips or at the corners of the mouth. The archaeological record suggests they "may have been" independently invented in six locations around the world at the southern Kamchatka Peninsula in Siberia, Iran, the Balkans, Sudan in Africa, southwestern Mexico and in Ecuador. The use of labrets spread outward from these locations to more distant groups of people through trade and marriage alliances.

    The earliest use of labrets appears to have been in either Iran at approximate 8400 years ago or at the southern Kamchatka Peninsula in Siberia where Dikov suggests a date of 10700 for labrets he discovered in level VI on the Ushki I site. Labrets appear in Iraq 7000 years ago. They also appear in the Balkans 7000 years ago, where they lasted for a thousand years. They appear in the Nile Valley 5300 years ago. Labrets appear in Africa in central Sudan 5300 years ago where they spread outward to Chad, Mali, Congo, Nigeria, etc. Labrets first appear in southwestern Mexico sometime between 3500 and 3350 years ago along the coast of Chiapas and 200 years later in the Tehuacan Valley. In South America, labrets first appear in Ecuador 2500 years ago and 200 years later they appear in Peru with the Mochica culture.

     Labrets were made from almost every type of raw material that could be shaped by carving, grinding, hammering, casting and polishing. Some of the materials that have been used by early period cultures include bone, coal, copper, glass, gold, ivory, shell, silver, wood and various types of stones, such as quartz, agate, jadite, serpentine, slate and other exotic stones.

      Most labrets were made out of common materials in the shape of simple plugs. The more finely crafted and rarer materials were worn by elite individuals. As an example, Purchas writes about the people in the valley of Mexico in 1626, "Among the rest of rather aloofe off (upper class) from the rest (of the Mexicans met by Cortez) were certain Indians of differing habit, higher than the other and had the gristles of their noses slit, hanging over their mouths, and rings of jet and amber hanging thereat; their nether (lower) lips also bored and in the holes rings of gold and Trukese-stones (Turquoise) which weighed so much that their lips hung over their chins leaving their teeth bare."

      Labrets were usually acquired when the person was very young, around the age of puberty. Spencer describes the procedure of how a young boy in the region north of the Yukon acquired his first labret at the age when his voice changed. The operation was done by an older man who was not paid but was skilled in this type of procedure. The boy leaned back into the man's lap, with his hands over his ears, and a piece of wood was placed into his mouth against which a slate knife was driven through the flesh. The wound was washed out with urine then a cylindrical ivory pin with a flange on one end was inserted through the fresh wound. As a person grew older, smaller labrets were often replaced with larger ones that would stretch the skin a little more each time.

      In Alaska and in Mesoamerica there were no one set of rules for the use of labrets. Gender, social status and age were three of the most important factors that determined how any one person would wear their labret. The size of a labret could indicate the age of a person while the color or rarity of an inlayed stone could indicate the persons social status. In some areas in Alaska only women wore them, while in other areas only men wore them. But in other areas both men and women wore them.

      Labrets were made in an endless variety of shapes and sizes that varied with each locality. Along the northwest coast the Tlingit women wore labrets up to 4 inches (10 cm) wide. In the region farther to the north in the Arctic, people wore labrets up to 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter. One report describes a labret that was almost 4 3/4 inches (11.9 cm) in diameter and weighed 7 ounces. The weight of these larger stone labrets would drag down the lip so the lower teeth and gums were exposed.

      The use of the largest labrets in the northwestern United States had almost disappeared by the mid-1800's and the use of all labrets in this region began to fade rapidly by the beginning of the 1900's. This change in cultural tradition was strongly influenced by the intense efforts of Christian missionaries to alter the indigenous peoples way of dress, grooming and rituals. Although the Europeans exhibited extreme and negative reactions to the use of labrets, especially the largest examples, the native people saw them as a perfectly honorable tradition. But outside influences always cause some form of change and in this case the labrets did not survive. But in Brazil and in central Africa some tribal groups still hold onto this very unique form of ornamental display.

"REFERENCES"

1884, Dall, William H., "On Masks, Labrets, And Certain Aboriginal Customs, With An Inquiry Into The Bearing Of Their Geographical Distribution," Third Annual Report Of The Bureau Of Ethnology To The Secretary Of The Smithsonian Institution, 1881-82, pp. 77-78.
1899, Nelson, Edward William, "The Eskimo About Bering Strait," Eighteenth Annual Report Of The Bureau Of Ethnology To The Secretary Of The Smithsonian Institution, 1896-97, pp. 77-78.
1926, Wissler, Clark, "The Relation Of Nature To Man In Aboriginal America," p. 61-67.
1959, Spencer, Robert F., "The North Alaskan Eskimo," Bureau Of American Ethnology, Bulletin, 171, pp. 241-242.
1979, Jones, Julie, "Mochica Works Of Art In Metal," Pre-Columbian Metallurgy Of South America, pp. 53-1.4.
1988, Gritton, Joy, "Labrets And Tattooing In Native Alaska," Marks Of Civilization, p. 181-190.
1989, Keddie, Grant, "Symbolism And Context: The World History Of The Labret And Cultural Diffusion On The Pacific Rim," p. 7.
Personal Communication with Tony Stein.

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