A while back we covered the ear and lip piercing practices of tha ancient Aztecs. While ear piercing was common, and marked the transition into adulthood, and lip piercing was more controlled, being for the elite and warrior classes, there was nothing more highly regarded or strictly regulated as nose piercings in the Aztec culture. While lip piercings were a right of passage into the military,  followed by  gradual earnings of plugs of increased size and value, most warriors would never achieve such high standing so as to be honored with a nose ring. A traditional Aztec nose ring would be pierced through the septum, and were also restricted solely to men.