Vintage photo of an Agîkûyû woman (right) sporting hang’i, traditional ornaments of the ears worn to betoken maturity. On her part, the woman on the left sports ndebe, earrings made out of wood and worn by younger girls.
Hang’i were suspended on holes along the outer edge of the ear. A leather strap (mûkûa) was used at times to keep the hang’i in place.
Older women adopted shaven heads as it became difficult for them to maintain their hair as they aged. There were also earrings worn almost exclusively by them (older women), but hanging down their ears as shown in this second photo.
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