Ancient Ink

Lars Krutak is a research associate at the Museum of International Folk Art. He is author of Tattoo Traditions of Native North America: Ancient and Contemporary Expressions of Identity and Spiritual Skin: Magical Tattoos and Scarification. Aaron Deter-Wolf is a prehistoric archaeologist for the Tennessee Division of Archaeology and senior editor of Drawing with Great Needles: Ancient Tattoo Traditions of North America. The contributors are Orlando V. Abinion, Gemma Angel, Ronald G. Beckett, Tara Nicole Clark, Colin Dale, Renée Friedman, Louise Furey, Svetlana Pankova, Dario Piombino-Mascali, Luc Renaut, Benoît Robitaille, Analyn Salvador-Amores, Dong Hoon Shin, Isaac Walters, Leonid T. Yablonsky, and Petar N. Zidarov.

The human desire to adorn the body is universal and timeless. While specific forms of body decoration and the motivations for them vary by region, culture, and era, all human societies have engaged in practices designed to augment and enhance people's natural appearance. Tattooing, the process of inserting pigment into the skin to create permanent designs and patterns, is one of the most widespread forms of body art and was practiced by ancient cultures throughout the world, with tattoos appearing on human mummies by 3200 BCE.Ancient Ink, the first book dedicated to the archaeological study of tattooing, presents new, globe-spanning research examining tattooed human remains, tattoo tools, and ancient art. Connecting ancient body art traditions to modern culture through Indigenous communities and the work of contemporary tattoo artists, the volume's contributors reveal the antiquity, durability, and significance of body decoration, illuminating how different societies have used their skin to construct their identities.

Acknowledgments Introduction / Aaron Deter-Wolf and Lars KrutakPart One | Skin1. New Tattoos from Ancient Egypt: Defining Marks of Culture / Renée Friedman2. Burik: Tattoos of the Ibaloy Mummies of Benguet, North Luzon, Philippines / Analyn Salvador-Amores3. Reviving Tribal Tattoo Traditions of the Philippines / Lars Krutak4. The Mummification Process among the "Fire Mummies" of Kabayan: A Paleohistological Note / Dario Piombino-Mascali, Ronald G. Beckett, Orlando V. Abinion, and Dong Hoon Shin5. Identifications of Iron Age Tattoos from the Altai-Sayan Mountains in Russia / Svetlana Pankova 6. Neo-Pazyryk Tattoos: A Modern Revival / Colin Dale and Lars Krutak 7. Recovering the Nineteenth-Century European Tattoo: Collections, Contexts, and Techniques / Gemma Angel8. After You Die: Preserving Tattooed Skin / Aaron Deter-Wolf and Lars Krutak Part Two | Tools9. The Antiquity of Tattooing in Southeastern Europe / Petar N. Zidarov10. Balkan Ink: Europe's Oldest Living Tattoo Tradition / Lars Krutak 11. Archaeological Evidence for Tattooing in Polynesia and Micronesia / Louise Furey 12. Reading Between Our Lines: Tattooing in Papua New Guinea / Lars Krutak 13. Scratching the Surface: Mistaken Identifications of Tattoo Tools from Eastern North America / Aaron Deter-Wolf, Benoît Robitaille, and Isaac Walters 14. Native North American Tattoo Revival / Lars Krutak15. The Discovery of a Sarmatian Tattoo Toolkit in Russia / Leonid T. Yablonsky16. Further Evaluation of Tattooing Use-Wear on Bone Tools / Aaron Deter-Wolf and Tara Nicole Clark Part Three | Art17. What to Make of the Prehistory of Tattooing in Europe? / Luc Renaut 18. Sacrificing the Sacred: Tattooed Prehistoric Ivory Figures of St. Lawrence Island, Alaska / Lars Krutak 19. A Long Sleep: Reawakening Tattoo Traditions in Alaska / Lars Krutak References ContributorsIndex