Traditional Mursi clay lip plate (Southwest Ethiopia)
Material: Clay
Diameter: 4.84 inch (12,3 cm)
Thickness: 0.71 inch (1,8 cm)
A rare original piece of jewelry for the lips of the Mursi-Women. As you can see on the pictures, the disk shows traces of use. Young Mursi-Women cut their lower lips with a razor blade in order to wear this wooden disk. Then they would put wood or clay disks into the aperture by increasing their size. With the size of the disk in lips and ears the respect and brideprice will rise in the same way.
Today the tribe of the Mursi includes with its brother tribe the Gurma still 30000 persons approximately.
