Mursi Tribe - Clay Lip Plate Frontal BW

When a Mursi woman reaches puberty and is of marriageable age it’s a traditional custom that she undergo the lip plate practice of inserting a lip plate in her lower lip. A slit is made by a razor blade into her lower lip. Then there is a gradual process of stretching the lower lip over time by inserting a series of wooden plugs, eventually once stretched enough, a heavier clay plate is placed in the lower lip.

This woman would have fetched a high dowry price for having such a large plate, considered a measure of beauty and status. One theory suggests the lip plate tradition originally began to deter slave traders from taking women from villages.

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