Permanent Body Arts

In some societies... body arts have deep symbolic, spiritual, and cosmological meanings

or certain purposes, people choose to make permanent modifications to their bodies. In some societies, such changes may be made to every body, such as in New Britain (in Papua New Guinea) where the heads of newborn children used to be bound to a board in order to mould them into the approved shape.

In the West today, many young people are choosing to modify their appearance with extensive tattoos, a trend encouraged by the fashion for tattoos amongst sportsmen and other celebrities. In other societies, only certain individuals of appropriate status may wear tattoos, and then only after following appropriate rituals. Here and elsewhere, body arts have deep symbolic, spiritual, and cosmological meanings.