A tembetá (

Guaraní language Guarani (Avañe'ẽ), also called Paraguayan Guarani, is a language of South America that belongs to the Tupi–Guarani branch of the Tupian language family. It is one of the two official languages of Paraguay (along with Spanish), where i ...

: ''tembe'': lip, ''ita'': stone.) or barbote (

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

) is a metal or stone rod placed in lower lip piercings by members of some

indigenous peoples in South America In South America, Indigenous peoples comprise the Pre-Columbian peoples and their descendants, as contrasted with people of European ancestry and those of African descent. In Spanish, Indigenous peoples are referred to as (), or (). The term ...

. It has been used since the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

period by different human groups for

body modification Body modification (or body alteration) is the deliberate altering of the human anatomy or human physical appearance. In its broadest definition it includes skin tattooing, socially acceptable decoration (''e.g.'', common earring, ear piercing in ...

, spiritual protection, and indication of

sexual maturity Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce. In humans, it is related to both puberty and adulthood. ''Puberty'' is the biological process of sexual maturation, while ''adulthood'', the condition of being socially recognized ...

Pre-Columbian use

According to the first studies of Jorge Fernández, tembetás originated in Planalto,

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Their use expanded as far south as

El Quisco El Quisco is a Chilean city and commune in San Antonio Province, Valparaíso Region. Located in the country's central coast, it serves as a popular summer resort for the population of Santiago and forms part of the Coast of Poets, a cultural sp ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, and they were adopted by indigenous groups such as the Guarani, Tupi, and Chiriguano peoples.

Sociological importance

The tembetá played a part in

initiation Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformatio ...

ceremonies, signifying the entry of young men into adult life. After these ceremonies, the men could marry and acquire the responsibilities of an adult male.

Corporal use and skill of placement

The tembetá is a male adornment in the lower lip. Several men and candidates would meet and drink

chicha ''Chicha'' is a Fermentation, fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post-Spanish conquest of Peru, Spanish conquest periods, corn beer (''chicha de jo ...

, a

fermented beverage This is a list of fermented foods, which are foods produced or preserved by the action of microorganisms. In this context, Fermentation in food processing, fermentation typically refers to the fermentation of sugar to ethanol, alcohol using yeas ...

made from maize, to dull the pain. A specialist would perforate the lip with a thick wooden needle. The tembetá would be inserted, and the person would wear it for the remainder of his life. Participants would ask during the ceremony that the tembetá protect its owner from death. To this end, it was placed near the mouth, a potential entry of damaging forces. Indeed, it was a very important amulet, more than an adornment. El Molle culture used the adornment, made of rock, preferably of beautiful colors. It consists of a thin curved plate molded to the gums. In the centre was a button, either cylindrical or sharply-pointed, that penetrated the lip 5 to 7 cm.

Geographical distribution

The tembetá is a cultural feature of very wide distribution. It has been used by peoples of Africa, Asia, and the Americas and often it had, apart from it decorative value, a social meaning. Another variant was a pipe of stone, often

talc Talc, or talcum, is a clay mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate, with the chemical formula . Talc in powdered form, often combined with corn starch, is used as baby powder. This mineral is used as a thickening agent and lubricant ...

, in the shape of letter "T". These pipe-shaped tembetás could be used in rites to smoke herbs with hallucinogenic properties.

Guarani people

The tembetá, called "labrete",The Indigenous Manufacture Across Some Objects Of The Collections Of The Museum
was used by the tribes of the Guarani. According to archaeological findings, the Guarani tembetá was made of

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

in the shape of a "T", 10 cm in length. The working of the quartz was done by a

shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...

. Quartz correlates to ''ita-verá'' (brilliant stone) of the mythical one ''Tupá Overasú'', and of the great one ''Tupá of the Storm''.

In Chile

The tembetá was used in several pre-Columbian cultures in Chile. The principal one was El Molle culture, which brought the tembetá from the Planalto of Brazil. Cultures derived from the Molle were the

Diaguita The Diaguita people are a group of South American Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people native to the Chilean Norte Chico, Chile, Norte Chico and the Argentine Northwest. Western or Chilean Diaguitas lived mainly in the Transvers ...

, Llolleo, and Bato. In the Llolleo culture the tembetá was of cardinal importance, but among the Bato, it was more on the level of a personal adornment, without any spiritual connotations.

Social differentiation

The tembetá offers protection against the negative action of the "owners of the nature"; it is the ritual adornment of the "souls that travel towards the land of beyond". Many neolithic tribes of the Amazon demonstrated a deep scorn for peoples that did not use the tembetá.

Notes

References

* Agüero Blanch, Vicente Orlando. "The tembetá: types and area of dispersion in the department Malargüe (Mendoza, Argentina)". ''Annals of archaeology and ethnology'', Mendoza, 1965, 20p. 49–70: carte, ill., tab., bibliogr. p. 68–70

External links

The Guaranis

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tembeta Pre-Columbian cultures Indigenous jewelry of the Americas Brazilian clothing Culture of Bolivia Culture of Paraguay Culture of Chile Body piercing jewellery Guaraní words and phrases