Neolithic Chic: Body Piercing Fashion from the Arctic Around 5,000 Years Ago
By The Siberian Times reporter
Ancient items of jewellery found by archeologists on Taymyr peninsula are stone labrets which were inserted into the face below the bottom lip. The discovery was made during the summer 2016 archeological season at a location some 600 kilometers above the Arctic Circle. The site in the far north of Krasnoyarsk region is believed to date as far back as three or four millennium BC.
Labrets are a kind of jewelry, which can be made of shell, bone, or stone, and is inserted into the lip as an ornament in some cultures.
The discovery was made by archeologists from Krasnoyarsk Geoarkheologia, and spokesman Danil Lysenko said: 'We found these labrets at the Neolithic site Bolshaya II, which is located on the bank of Novaya River, a tributary of the Katanga River.
Neolithic labrets and arrowheads were lying just on the ground.
'They were just lying on the ground, along with stone arrowheads. In some places here, the wind blows away the upper layer of tundra and the sand, so the ancient items are there, just on the ground, uncovered.
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'Judging by the stone arrowheads, the site can be preliminarily dated as being from the fourth to the third millennium BC.'
Such facial piercing decorations were found by a Soviet era archeological expedition to this area more than 40 years ago headed by Leonid Khlobystin.
The discovery was made during the summer 2016 archeological season at a location some 600 kilometers above the Arctic Circle.
The expedition of Krasnoyarsk Geoarkheologia - a private company which investigates potential archeological sites - is the first to Taimyr since that time.
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Archeologists say these facial decorations - two were found this summer in the Arctic - were common among the ancestors of the western Eskimos, Aleuts, the North American Indians.
It is believed they were worn by men as well as women.
Archeologists say these facial decorations - two were found this summer in the Arctic - were common among the ancestors of the western Eskimos, Aleuts, the North American Indians.
Top image: Labrets are a kind of jewelry, which can be made of shell, bone, or stone, and is inserted into the lip as an ornament in some cultures. Picture here and below: Krasnoyarsk Geoarkheologiya
The article ‘Neolithic chic: body piercing fashion from the Arctic around 5,000 years ago’ originally appeared on The Siberian Times and has been republished with permission.
