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Brian A. Vikander/Corbis

Africa’s ancient custom, America’s latest trend. A Samburu warrior from Kenya wears the traditional jewelry of his people, including a large wooden ear plug. In some societies where ear plugs are commonly worn, the hole in the earlobe is stretched over time by the use of progressively larger plugs. When adults are not wearing plugs, they can loop their distended lobes around the tops of their ears.