Abstract
Women in Kayan society (the Kayan Lahwi tribe) still practice the custom (body modification) of wearing brass neck coils beginning in childhood. By adulthood, brass neck coils weigh 3kg. This research provides the first verified data analysis of the influence of this custom on the form, physique, and body proportion of Kayan women. The survey took place from 2012 to 2014 in S, P, and R villages in Demoso Township, Kayah State, Union of Myanmar. The survey consisted of taking anthropometric measurements of 76 women who had worn neck brass coils since childhood, and 52 women who had no experience wearing these neck brass coils. We calculated and compared the difference in average values of 11 key vertical dimensions and 10 body proportion indices of the two groups of women (coils wearers vs. non-wearers). For coils-wearers, the largest t-value was for neck length (t=9.207) and head-neck length (t=8.161). Comparing body proportion indices (by setting each subject’s height to 100), we similarly found the largest difference between the two groups to be the neck length index (t=9.508) and the head-neck length index (t=9.003). It is clear that women who wore neck coils achieved a large difference in their physique and proportion when compared to women who had not worn neck coils. The practice has a large influence on the position of shoulders and arms, and especially so on the area from center top edge of the sternum to the top of the head.
