Mursi women, southern Ethiopia

the Mursi women from southern Ethiopia use clay or wood plates to stretch the bottom lip, each woman crafts her own plate. A girl 6-12 months away from being married, usually around the ages 16-18, will have her lip pierced by either her mother or one of her kinswomen. Initially, the piercing is only 1-2cm wide and is held open with a wooden peg, around 1-3 weeks later once the wound has healed, a slightly larger peg is inserted. The first clay lip plate is inserted once the piercing has a diameter of around 4 cm, the final diameter  of the piercing is can vary    anywhere from 8-20 cm.