Ancient sign of beauty designed to attract a husband - PHOTO+VIDEO

This month, an Australian film crew, led by cinematographer Abrahem Joffe, stumbled upon the world’s largest lip disc in the remote valleys of southern Ethiopia.Joffe told Daily Mail Australia the crew was filming a documentary series for Canon Australia when they made the discovery.‘We were taking a tour with some of the local guides. When they spotted the woman, they were absolutely bewildered,' he said.‘I’m a big reader of Guinness World Records and I figured it was out of the ordinary, but you know you've found something special when the locals are amazed.’Ataye Eligidagne, 20, dons the largest lip disk in the world. At a whopping 59.5 cm in circumference and 19.5 cm in diameter, it’s over twice the size of the average disc.The previous record disc in the Guinness Book of World Records was 15cm in diameter.Lip discs are a long-running tradition amongst the Surma woman of the lower Omo Rover valley in Ethiopia.There is evidence of woman wearing the discs in this region from 1896. The procedure, which also involves knocking out the bottom two teeth, is done at the age of 15-18. In recent times, the Ethiopian government has taken measures to ban the discs, and the frequency amongst the younger generations is reportedly dwindling.The discs carry a multifaceted significance. They are intended to attract a husband as well as a dowry for the family of the wife, who provide a contingent  of cattle respective to the size of the disc.‘I think that locally, it's a matter of pride. The larger the disc, the more impressive. Young people try to outdo each other all over the world.'(dailymail.co.uk)Bakudaily.Az