India
"The art of tattooing {in India] is an important folk art form found all
over the world...tattoo.. developed against the background of religion,
ritual and belief....Those who follow tattooing as a profession in India
do it as a part-time occupation...go[ing] around the countryside
between March and July...a time of leisure..."
South East Asia Folklore, 1998 p 594Ancient
Mediterranean/Europe/North America
"As this collection of essays attests...the practice [of tattooing] was
not imported to the West as a...colonial encounter with 'primitives' but
has been a permanent cultural feature of the ancient Mediterranean and
of Europe and North America. Tattooing is a universal and age old
phenomenon with many functions: decorative, religious, magical,
punitive, and as an indication of identity, status, occupation or
ownership...This at least in part gave rise to the adoption of...tattoos
as a badge of honor."
Jane Caplan, Written on the Body, P18
Late Roman Empire
"There is for some a lingering sense that tattoos are signs of
degradation, criminality and deviance, and thus their appearance is
deemed an assault on the viewer."
Mark Gustafson, The Tattoo in the Late Roman Empire, Written on the Body
OpCit p17 |
