Re: mutilation and ritual

Adrienne Dearmas (DearmasA@AOL.COM)
Thu, 4 Jul 1996 11:44:55 -0400

In a message dated 96-07-03 19:05:25 EDT, agorman@METZ.UNE.EDU.AU (Alice
Gorman) writes:

> Many early ethnographers seem to use "tattooing" and "scarifying"
> interchangeably; does anyone have any thoughts on this?
>
The majority of my research on this topic comes from the HRAF (Human
Relationas Area Files). The database I am putting together on this is
confusing b/c tattooing is the preferred word for any kind of body marking,
especially throughout Africa and Oceania. You have to know the group in
question to be sure which practice we are talking about.

- Adrienne