Medical Anthropology and Tattooing

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Body Modification: Examples and Explanations" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

As the popularity of tattooing has surged worldwide, so too have studies of tattooing as a cultural and psychological practice, though research on the biological impacts of tattooing have lagged. In its basic form, tattooing is a purposeful wound on the body that leaves behind pigment and permanent meaning. Part of that meaning is the health implications of the wound, which some hold to be an injury to the body while others suggest the healing process strengthens the body. The oldest documented tattooed individual in the world, the frozen mummy nicknamed “Ötzi” for the region in which it was found, has 61 tattoos that align with acupuncture marks and appear therapeutic. How could an injury made into a permanent mark on the body be therapeutic? In this presentation, we review cross-cultural use of tattooing for therapeutic and medical purposes and our own recent studies of the physiological mechanisms by which tattooing may benefit health through affecting immune and endocrine responses. We also discuss the contrast between the stigma of tattooing and the high number of studies exploring dermatological and behavioral risk associated with tattooing and the relatively low rates of tattoo-related medical complications.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Body Modification: Examples and Explanations   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37418.0