Body Art and Ornamentation Across Cultures

Body Art and Ornamentation across Cultures

ANT 101

Body Art and Ornamentation across Cultures

The skin has been a canvas for human expression for centuries. As a result, body art and ornamentation have been a source of interest among anthropologists beginning as early as the 1900's, and gaining a strong foothold during the 1970's. "Inscribed skin highlights an issue that has been central to anthropology since its inception: the question of boundaries between the individual and society, between societies, and between representations and experiences" (Schildkrout, 2004). Through anthropological research, we have learned that many cultures worldwide use forms of body art and ornamentation such as scarification, tattooing (permanent and...