1530: The Spanish begin to record their experience observing ritual piercing among the native peoples in Mesoamerica, including the Aztecs and the Maya.
1700-1800: Explorers from Europe and Canada discover and name several indigenous tribes in the Americas, recording the ritual piercing common to many of them, including the Mandan (of the Dakotas) and the Nez Perce (of the Pacific Northwest).
1890: An article concerning nipple piercing amongst female members of the social elite is published in Vogue. Argument still continues over whether the narrative contained therein is truthful and serious, or primarily anecdotal.
1930: Fakir Musafar (then known as Roland Loomis) is born. He would later go on to become the driving force behind the Modern Primitivism movement.
1960s: Photographer David Turton captures some of the first notable modern images of tribeswomen in the Omo River Valley region of North Africa wearing lip plugs and lip plates.
1970: The punk movement developing in the UK begins to embrace facial piercing as a means of artistic and political expression
1975: First publication about body modification.
