Although ink tattoos are the most popular modern form of body art, human beings have been adorning their bodies for aesthetic or ritualistic reasons in some manner or another for thousands of years. Whether it is with the fine strokes of an artist's airbrush or the precision slices of an expert's scalpel, the world of human body art and body modification is virtually limitless in its manifestations.

Let's take a look at the anthropology of body art and survey the most popular expressions of this art form in today's world.

The History of Body Art

When studying body art history, it is striking to notice how the different versions of both modern and tribal body art are reflections of the societies that their subjects lived within. Body art is nearly always heavily influenced by the aesthetic and social taboos of the societies that encourage their use.

Historically, permanent body art was used to:

• Correct the human form into the given culture's concept of ideal physical beauty.
• The acceptance of such adornment was considered a part of reaching social maturity. Body art rituals served as a rite of passage.
• Identification: tribe members and outsiders can identify each other by means of their body art.
• Social status: usually, the bigger the body modifications, the higher on the social ladder someone was.
• Magical protection: body art often served as a talisman.

Anthropologists have discovered that body art is one of the human universals that are found in every culture on the planet. Although one needs to go no further than the local shopping mall to find examples of modern tribal body art, it is often easier to observe cultural body modification by studying a culture outside of one's own.

Throughout Africa, examples of African body art have been found in virtual every traditional society. Some of the best known examples of African body art include:

• Neck stretching: a long neck is a beauty ideal in some African and Asian cultures. The neck is gradually elongated with neck rings.
  
• Lip stretching: several tribes are known for lip stretching, like the Mursi women of Ethiopia and the Botocudo women of Brazil. The stretching is done with the aid of lip plates (aka lip plugs or lip discs). In the Mursi tribe, the size of the lip disc correspondents with the number of cattle paid as the bride price. Stretched lips are a symbol of social maturity.
  
  
  
  
• Scarification: scarification is used in many different cultures as a rite of passage or as a means to show sorrow. More about scarification.
• Piercing: piercings are a kind of body modification that were seen as a status symbol. More about piercings.
• Ear Stretching (aka gauging or tunneling)