Ear piercing and earlobe stretching, a custom of the ancestors, is a practice that seems to be dying out, although women from the Msinga District of KwaZulu continue to wear large wooden earplugs.

A large safety pin is the instrument used for the operation which is performed in early childhood by old women of the village. Pig's fat is applied as a healing agent.

To keep the hole open, a reed is inserted and constantly moved around the earlobe. Sections of reeds and large plugs are then added to widen the hole.

Earplugs made from wood and then decorated with colored geometric inlay are fashionable.

In adulthood, large ear plugs are worn by both Zulu men and women. Barbara Tyrrell, an expert on Zulu folklore, explains that according to ancestral custom, the ears are ritually pierced in childhood to ensure 'that the ears of the mind might also hear.'

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Afrique du Sud

Zoulou

5.5 x 5.5

0.056