06th March 2006
Lisa Simmons

A SIMPLE OVERVIEW OF PRE-COLUMBIAN COSTA RICAN EAR SPOOLS

The origins of body decoration and ornamentation are almost as old as the archaeological record itself. Through this art, humanity has found a visual outlet for expressing spirituality, status, and a pleasurable aesthetic. One of the most interesting and pronounced forms of body adornment has been that of piercing the ears in order to facilitate the insertion of ear spools or flares – referred to in modern times as “ear plugs.” Imagery of these and other forms of personal decoration have been recorded as pictoral scenes on a variety of artifacts that comes down to us from every culture on the globe. The culture that this essay will focus on is that of the indigenous peoples of Costa Rica (“Rich Coast”) that have utilized beautiful jadeite stones, gold, and ceramics to create some of the most elaborate and magnificent ear spools ever made.

This ceramic type is known as Mora Polychrome. The style dates from around 200 BC and it is a ceramic depiction of a female shaman. It is because of images like this that archaeologists believe that females enjoyed positions of high status. Her ear spools are extremely prominent, she is sitting on a jaguar thrown and covered in tattoos or stamps of what is know as the woven mat motif. The woven mat was a symbol of rank, a figure of power able to sit upon a beautiful intricate mat and not a dirt floor was elevated to a higher status. It is also believed that the woven motif could represent the twisting ayahuasca vine which was a powerful hallucinogen taken to open the mind to the spirit realm. The woven mat motif can also be seen engraved on the interior of certain ceramic ear flares.

This image represents a decapitated head. Many Costa Rican pre-Columbian cultures were ‘head cults’ and cut off the heads of fallen warriors from other chiefdoms, believing that they possessed powerful spiritual properties. This particular ceramic effigy head has large ear spools, perhaps evidence of the status of the enemy. Perhaps this particular piece was made was to commemorate a powerful enemy killed in battle, the ear spools paying tribute to his importance in society.

Although it is believed that most adult males and females, if not all of them, wore ear spools in pre-Columbian Costa Rica the collection that has survived the test of time is small and they are a rare archaeological find. The ones that have been either looted from graves or retrieved archaeologically are similar to ear spools from the Mayan area to the north. The Costa Rican ear spools, however, are ring-shaped and occur as one piece, whereas the Mayan spools often come in two parts that are put through both sides of the ear and connect in the center. There are three regions where ear spools have been found in Costa Rica with distinct artistic traditions, especially evident after 500 A.D. They include Guanacaste-Nicoya to the north, the Atlantic Watershed region to the East, and Diquis to the South. Ear spools are usually uncovered in these regions within the archaeological contexts of graves or caches as offerings to the gods. The master craftsmen who made these objects were likely specialists who were enlisted by the rulers of a particular chiefdom to create objects of beauty in order to enhance and advertise the status of the wearer. It is thought that the manufacture of this jewelry type involved shaping pieces of raw material with a solid edge saw and an abrasive material. It is also possible that they could have been created by the cores taken from drilling large pieces of greenstone with tubular drill’s, after this was done the objects could be shaped and polished with finer materials. Because jade is such an extremely hard and tough stone, the making of these ear decorations must have taken a lot of expertise and patience. The only surviving ear flares that come down to us are made of jade, gold, shell or ceramic and so have weathered the test of time. It is extremely likely that they were also made of bone and wood.

The only stone worked by Costa Rican lapidaries was jadeite, in-turn, the most popular jade form is the axe-god which appears to be a half-human, half animal shaman-figure under going a spiritual transformation, perhaps to aid in battle or to ensure rain. These gods are carved into axe-forms to be hung around the neck of the wearer as an amulet. Jade is also one of the materials that ear spools was made from – perhaps they had spiritual power much like the axe-god amulets. It is a common assumption that jade is a mineral first discovered in China. However, it was actually initially discovered by the Spanish conquistadors in the early 15th century and was shipped back East to be ground into a fine powder and used to cure kidney ailments. Jade is also not only green, but the mineral Jadeite refers to a wide spectrum of colors which include a stark white to a dark, almost black green. Jade is not the term that the indigenous Costa Rican’s used, there’s was a much more eloquent and descriptive term – chalchihuitl. This term means green, water, energy and many other adjectives in one and jade was believed to imbue the wearer with special powers. This is why many shamans, both male and female, are depicted in ceramics and other art forms wearing large jade ear spools and sitting squat-legged, ready for transformation into an animal spirit. Perhaps this transformation was to ensure that the shaman would be prepared to do battle with evil spirits or perhaps to sneak into an enemy camp as a small, un-noticeable animal in order to spy on plans of warfare to gain the upper hand. Perhaps stretching ones earlobes and adorning the holes with jewelry made from sacred materials was a way to invite spirits perhaps from the air, water, or earth easy access to the head and therefore the brain which was the part of the body most altered by the hallucinogenics used in almost every religious ceremony.

Gold, although less abundant than jade was also a common element in the area. Large, glittering ear spools were made out of this material and the owner of such objects must have commanded supreme attention standing on a high platform with his or her ears stretched impressively wide and fitted with huge gold disks that would shine brightly in the sun. It is known that Mayan kings were thought to be descendents and intermediaries with the corn god who was also associated with the sun, life, and regeneration. Perhaps Costa Rican royalty was similarly related to the sun which in turn was celebrated and advertised by glowing discs worn through the ears.

The ear spools of Costa Rican come in a multitude of shapes and sizes. Ceramic ear spools have also been found and are thought to have been for the use of commoners or for everyday adornment and not worn by royalty or used in special religious rituals. However, they are also beautiful in their simplicity and engraved or painted with geometric motifs, perhaps visualized when the artist had taken ayahuasca, a vine with hallucinogenic properties or other similar substances.

Ear flares from Costa Rica are thought to have been symbols of spirituality, visual representations of a stratified society, as well as delicate heirlooms passed down through generations. They were certainly deemed important enough to be buried with their owners perhaps because they were simply loved as beautiful objects, or because of the belief that they would be helpful amulets in the afterlife.

17th March 2005
Author: Patrick
The value of massage and various oils in earlobe stretching

Earlobe stretching is an ancient activity and has been practiced by culture in every hemisphere throughout recorded history. There are a lot of schools of exactly how to achieve big lobes and that will be addressed in a future article, what I intend to talk about here is the care of lobes while stretching, particularly the elements of massage and oils and the benefits achieved by each.

Massage is very important to your lobes, at time after a recent stretch the circulation is impeded somewhat by the jewelry itself, so that it is crucial to give them a good rub with no jewelry in at least once a day to help them exchange blood rapidly for a few minutes and stimulate the skin. Techniques vary, but the basics are to start with your index finger through your fistula (hole), and thumb on the outside of your lobe and do sort of a rotary milking motion, down in the front and up in the back and then vice versa, then taking your finger out, squeeze the whole lobe together and pull down on it as it slips out of your fingers. Oils make it easier to do this much more aggressively and effectively with no discomfort, and there are various suitable oils currently in vogue, in the next paragraph we will discuss the advantages of each.

One of the first oils that comes to mind for a lot of people is vitamin E oil (alpha tocopherol). It is in some cases an excellent oil and we will discuss the two common types of it and their uses in the appendix below. Olive oil also has many adherents through out the body modification community, the extra virgin cold pressed variety being preferred. Jojoba oil has been the oil of choice for many people with large lobes for the last several years, it will be discussed as will emu. There are a small hard core of people who are diehard shea butter users, and I will discuss that to the limits of my available information.

Vitamin E: There are two main types of vit E oil, the high concrentrate that is in oral gelcaps, and the low concentration liquid designed for topical application. Both have their uses in lobe stretching. The capsule are good in your tummy. Vitamin E is a very important nutrient for your skin. The capsule are also good for squeezing the goo out of for 2 reasons, hyper moisturization of a “chapped” or sunburned area of the lobe, or therapy of a tear or other surface injury, it is not a good long term product on your lobe because it is very thick and tacky and dust, pollen, and other irritants stick to it like glue. It can also be a pain to wash off since it is very water repellent and soap doesn’t break it down super easily. The low concentrate is much thinner and silkier and makes a great regular use product, not the best one by far, but very good nonetheless.

Olive Oil: This is limited to the discussion of cold pressed extra virgin olive oil (EVOO).

EVOO is all vegetable, has a mild unobtrusive smell, is well tolerated by the skin, is thin enough to work well yet an excellent lubricant. EVOO must be considered an excellent lobe oil based simply on the number of people that use it and the results that they have gotten.

Jojoba: There are 2 main varieties of jojoba, clear and golden. The difference is simply in the level of filtration and refinement that they have had. I personally had excellent results with jojoba after some friends of mine told me to try it a couple of years ago. I have used both varieties and much prefer the golden since it is a much more natural product. I feel that it may contain unidentified chemicals that are missing from the more filtered one, and jojoba is known to be a fantastically beneficial substance to the skin.

Emu: The current hot miracle oil. I must say that due to the fanaticism of a dear friend I have been won over by this stuff, it does seem to be a miracle in a bottle. It contains about a zillion hard to pronounce chemicals that promote healing, combat bacteria, and assist in the shedding of old skin/manufacture of new. It has a thinnish almost gritty texture that is very hard to get used to. It also thins almost to wateriness upon application of body heat. Very unusual stuff and not cheap, you will be very intrigued by it the first few days should you ever try it, and see results immediately in terms of softer more cooperative lobes.

Shea butter: I mention this only because a great friend has beautiful 2 1/8” lobes and has used nothing but for years. He buys whole shea root at his local whole foods coop and grinds it himself. He has the second most beautiful lobes I have ever seen in person.

I hope this has been a helpful introduction to the use of massage and oils for ear stretching. Please addres any specific comments to questions@omericaorganic.com.