Tattooing and body modification: How have anthropologists studied this? Tattooing cross-culturally?

Answer 1

Hey Jenna, Tattooing has been around a long time.....The iceman (found frozen in the alps) is an excellent example of early tattoos... He had lines ....dots ....and circles tattooed on his body. Anthropologists aren't sure of the meaning of his tattoos...but they don't think they were for "decoration"....because of the location of these marks on the body. Some of them were in places like the back of his knee.....the small of his back.

As for body modification....one of the earliest types that can be documented ......are missing fingers. Cave painters would place their hands on the cave wall and Blow/spit the paint around their hands ....leaving an outline on the wall. Thousands of the outlines have been found on cave walls around the world.....and hundreds of them show missing fingers!.....Even some of the outlines of childrens hands are missing fingers too......We know that they were cutting off fingers .......we just don't know why.

I hope this helped

Answer 2

Tattooing and body modification have existed in almost all cultures throughout the world, even primitive cultures. All forms of body modifications represent something about the individual as well as the culture in which the individual exists. The earliest forms of tattooing were related to coming of age and acceptance into the community. In many tribes of Africa today, scarring is used as an initiation rite. For American society, tattooing provides people with a sense of individulaity or belonging, depending on the individual and the tattoo. Anthropolgists have studied body modifications cross-culturally because they have existed in almost every society throughout time. Body modifications are used in the same way, religion, language, transportation and geography (etc) are used to help anthropologists understand cultures.