The dating and regional placement of these objects are very difficult because they were used throughout Mesoamerica as of the Preclassic. In the case of this labret, we can affirm that it belongs to the Post-Classic since, in the previous eras, gold was not used. But the variety and abundance of these objects is such that it could just as well be Mexica or Mixtec or some other culture. The material does not solve the problem of regional placement either because both obsidian and green stones (serpentine, jadeite and others) circulated widely throughout Mesoamerica.
Normally, those that wore earrings also wore labrets; they were complementary elements of the body adornment of Mesoamerican nobility. They begin to appear in the Preclassic, especially in the Olmec era, when status differences within society were already well established. One thing we know for sure, they are artifacts used exclusively by of the elite of each city. Ordinary people could not wear these ornaments, which were intended to highlight the prestige and authority of their s.
We must that they are not pendants but pieces that fit into slots made in the flesh. Generally, the nobles practiced ear piercings and piercings of the lower lip of their children from a young age so that they could grow accustomed to wearing such ornaments, using small pieces first. The size, quality of material and sophistication of the design, of both labrets and earrings, was related to the hierarchy and wealth of their .
In order to wear earrings a good sized hole was perforated between the cartilage and the earlobe. This piercing left a permanent scar and allowed the narrowest part of the earring to enter and remain in the ear, leaving the circular fins at the front and back of the ear. The labret was worn in a perforation made in the lower lip. The legs or fins that can be seen in this piece remained inside the mouth, next to the gums, and the prominent part, usually circular, as in this example, showed between the lip and chin.
Some Spanish chroniclers refer to people of ancient indigenous nobility as having saggy ears and visible perforations as they were forbidden from wearing their earrings and labrets during the colonial era. They also mention that they had a visible hole under the lip where the labret that functioned as a plug was previously worn starting at childhood. Of course, in the case of brave warriors and others who, because of their merits, had received a senior position and therefore the right to wear earrings and labrets, they had to endure the piercings in adulthood without the preparation from early childhood that the nobles received.
Regarding the strictness with which the implicit social distinction of the use of these ornaments was applied, it is worth noting that Nahua law before the conquest contemplated the death penalty for those who wore them without the rank that entitled them to it.
The dating and regional placement of these objects are very difficult because they were used throughout Mesoamerica as of the Preclassic. In the case of this labret, we can affirm that it belongs to the Post-Classic since, in the previous eras, gold was not used. But the variety and abundance of these objects is such that it could just as well be Mexica or Mixtec or some other culture. The material does not solve the problem of regional placement either because both obsidian and green stones (serpentine, jadeite and others) circulated widely throughout Mesoamerica.
