Until the 1870s, Maori men of New Zealand etched deep tattoos over their entire faces. Patterns were chiseled into the skin to create parallel ridges and grooves, much like designs cut into wood. This ...

Cultures around the world still honor ancient traditional practices of body modification, or the intentional and often irreversible alteration of the skin. For many practitioners, body modifications ...

Use-wear/residue analysis of small flakes and stemmed tools made of obsidian and quartz, from middle and late Holocene archaeological sites in Melanesia, indicates their use in piercing and cutting ...

Scarification is a common practice among African tribes. It is a cultural language that tells stories of identity. Scarification marks transitions like womanhood. The cuts are symbolic and affirm ...