A jeweller gives some tips on what you might not know about ear, nose, belly and nipple piercings

It's easy to believe piercings were introduced in the 40s when rock and roll became popular, but it dates back 5 000 years. In 1991, it was discovered that Otzi, the oldest mummy, had holes in his ears and part of that amazing discovery was the realisation that the tradition of accessorising ears existed long before we did.

In ancient African civilisations, piercings had many cultural meanings, apart from being a form of body modification. According to Face2Face Africa, these are some of the reasons ancient African civilisations had piercings:

Ear piercing