Ear piercing is one of the oldest known forms of body modification, with artistic and written references from cultures around the world dating back to early history. Gold, silver and bronze hoop earrings were prevalent in the Minoan Civilization (2000–1600 BCE) and examples can be seen on frescoes on the Aegean island of Santorini, Greece. During the late Minoan and early Mycenaean periods of Bronze Age Greece hoop earrings with conical pendants were fashionable. Early evidence of earrings worn by men can be seen in archeological evidence from Persepolis in ancient Persia. The carved images of soldiers of the Persian Empire displayed on some of the surviving walls of the palace, show them wearing an modern earrings.
Howard Carter writes in his description of Tutankhamun's tomb that the Pharaoh's earlobes were perforated, but no earrings were inside the wrappings, although the tomb contained some. The burial mask's ears were perforated as well, but the holes were covered with golden discs. That implies that at the time, earrings were only worn in Egypt by children, much like in Egypt of Carter's times.
Other early evidence of earring-wearing is evident in the Biblical record. In Exodus 32:1–4, it is written that while Moses was up on Mount Sinai, the Israelites demanded that Aaron make a god for them. It is written that he commanded them to bring their sons' and daughters' earrings (and other pieces of jewelry) to him in order that he might comply with their demand (c. 1500 BCE). By the classical period, including in the Middle East, as a general rule, they were considered exclusively female ornaments. In Greece and Rome also, earrings were worn mainly by women, and the wearing of them by a man was often spoken of as distinctively oriental. Earrings, ornaments decorating the ears have been one of the principal forms of jewelry throughout recorded history.
The practice of wearing earrings was a tradition for Ainu men and women, but the Government of Meiji Japan forbade Ainu men to wear earrings in the late-19th century. Earrings were also commonplace among nomadic Turkic tribes, and lavish ear ornaments have remained popular in India from historical times to the present day.
In Western Europe, earrings became fashionable among English courtiers and gentlemen in the 1590s during the English Renaissance. A document published in 1577 by clergyman William Harrison, Description of England, states "Some lusty courtiers and gentlemen of courage do wear either ring of gold, stones or pearls in their ears. Among sailors, a pierced earlobe was a symbol that the wearer had sailed around the world or had crossed the equator.
By the late 1950s or early 1960s, the practice re-emerged in the Western world. Teenage girls were known to hold ear piercing parties, where they performed the procedure on one another. By the mid-1960s, some physicians offered ear piercing as a service. Simultaneously, Manhattan jewelry stores were some of the earliest commercial, non-medical locations for getting an ear piercing.
In the late 1960s, ear piercing began to make inroads among men through the hippie and gay communities, although they had been popular among sailors for decades (or longer). Traditionally, a right-side piercing identified a man as gay as part of LGBT “culture and code” to secretly identify oneself to the community. The left-side is widely accepted as straight while dual piercings indicate homosexuality or other varied expressions of sexuality. There has begun to be some challenging of these norms in recent years, though the standard view remains
