Editing Scarification (section)

==Reasons==
Within anthropology, the study of the body as a boundary has been long debated.<ref name="inscribing the body">{{cite journal |last=Schildkrout |first=Enid |date=2004-06-11 |title=Inscribing the Body |journal=Annual Review of Anthropology |volume=33 |page=320 |doi=10.1146/annurev.anthro.33.070203.143947}}</ref> In 1909, [[Arnold van Gennep|Van Gennep]] described bodily transformations, including tattooing, scarification, and painting, as rites of passage.<ref>{{cite book|last=Van Gennep|first=A|title=Les Rites De Passage|date=1909|publisher=E. Nourry|location=Paris}}</ref> In 1963, [[Claude Lévi-Strauss|Lévi-Strauss]] described the body as a surface waiting for the imprintation of culture.<ref>{{cite book|last=Levi-Strauss|first=C|title=Structural Anthropology|url=https://archive.org/details/structuralanthro00lv|url-access=registration|date=1963|publisher=Basic Books|location=New York}}</ref> Turner (1980) first used the term "social skin" in his detailed discussion of how [[Kayapo]] culture was constructed and expressed through individual bodies.<ref>{{cite book|last=Turner|first=TS|author-link=Terence Turner (Anthropologist)|title=Not Work Alone: A Cross-Cultural View of Activities Superfluous to Survival|date=1980|publisher=Sage|location=Beverly Hills, CA|pages=112–140}}</ref> Inscribed skin highlights an issue that has been central to anthropology since its inception: the question of boundaries between the individual and society, between societies, and between representation and experiences.<ref name="inscribing the body" />

=== Rites of passage and belonging ===
Traditionally, the most common reason for scarification has been as a [[rite of passage]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ludvico|author2=Kurland |title=Symbolic or Not-so-Symbolic Wounds: The Behavioral Ecology of Human Scarification|journal=Ethology and Sociobiology|date=1995|volume=16|issue=2|pages=155–172|doi=10.1016/0162-3095(94)00075-i}}</ref>

Scarification has been widely used by many West African tribes to mark milestone stages in both men and women's lives, such as puberty and marriage. In many tribes, members unwilling to participate in scarification were generally not included in the group's activities, and are often shunned from their society.<ref name="nat geo">{{cite magazine |last=Guynup |first=Sharon |title=Scarification: Ancient Body Art Leaving New Marks |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0728_040728_tvtabooscars.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040805205749/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0728_040728_tvtabooscars.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 5, 2004 |magazine=National Geographic}}</ref> According to anthropologist Grace Harris, group members lacking the normal characteristics consistent with the group are not considered as having acquired the full standing as agents in their society; they would also lack the capacity for meaningful behavior, such as greeting, commanding, and {{clarify|date=July 2024|text=stating.}}<ref name="Harris 1989 599–612">{{cite journal |last=Harris |first=Grace Gredys |date=1989 |title=Concepts of Individual, Self, and Person in Description Analysis |journal=American Anthropologist |volume=91 |issue=3 |pages=599–612 |doi=10.1525/aa.1989.91.3.02a00040}}</ref> Therefore, scarification can transform partial tribe members into "normal" members entirely accepted by the group. Scarification is a form of language not readily expressed, except through extensive and intricate greetings, and gives the ability to communicate fully, which is a key element for being considered as a normal member of the group.<ref name="Harris 1989 599–612" />

One reason why scarification is used as confirmation of adulthood is how it shows the ability to endure pain. With young men, the endurance of the pain of scarring exhibits strength and discipline, especially in tribes where males have roles as hunters and warriors. A young man who has already experienced the feeling of torn or cut flesh is considered less likely to fear the teeth of a wild animal or the tip of an enemy's spear.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Roman |first=Jorge |date=2016-12-01 |title=African Scarification |url=https://doi.org/10.1001/jamadermatol.2016.0086 |journal=JAMA Dermatology |volume=152 |issue=12 |pages=1353 |doi=10.1001/jamadermatol.2016.0086 |pmid=27973657 |issn=2168-6068|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In Ethiopia and Zambia, elaborate scarification is often done on women at puberty, used to denote a willingness to be a mother. The markings show that she can stand the pain of childbirth,<ref>{{Cite book |last=DeMello |first=Margo |title=Encyclopedia of Body Adornment |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0313336959 |location=United States of America |language=en}}</ref> as well as being an indication of her emotional maturity.<ref name="ezakwantu" />

[[File:Tribal crocodile scarification, Sepik River, Papua New Guinea.jpg|thumb|Tribal crocodile scarification done near the [[Sepik River]] in Papua New Guinea]]
Some of these rites of passage have spiritual or religious roots, such young boys in the [[Chambri people|Chambri]] tribe of [[Papua New Guinea]] undergo scarification resembling crocodile scales to mark their transition into manhood, a ritual which stems from the belief that humans evolved from crocodiles.<ref name=":2" />

In [[Ethiopia]], [[Surma people|Suri]] men scar their bodies to show that they have killed someone from an enemy tribe; the [[Mursi people|Mursi]] practice scarification for largely aesthetic reasons in order to attract the opposite sex and enhance the tactile experience of sex.<ref name=":2" /> The [[Ekoi people|Ekoi]] of [[Nigeria]] believe that the scars serve, on their way to the afterlife, as money.<ref name=":2" />

=== Identity ===
[[File:Restauration de scarification 19-d.lau-F3080.D2174.jpg|thumb|180px|Scarifications on this child's face show his clan membership.]] Scarification can be used to transmit complex messages about identity; such permanent body markings may emphasize fixed social, political, and religious roles.<ref name="randart" /> Tattoos, scars, brands, and piercings, when voluntarily acquired, are ways of showing a person's autobiography on the surface of the body to the world.<ref name="inscribing the body" />

Scarification can also help change status from victim to survivor. These individuals pass through various kinds of ritual death and rebirth, and redefine the relationship between self and society through the skin.<ref name="inscribing the body" />

Many people in certain regions of Africa who have "markings" can be identified as belonging to a specific tribe or ethnic group. Some of the tribes in [[Northern Region (Ghana)|Northern Ghana]] who use the markings are the [[Gonja people|Gonjas]], [[Nanumba people|Nanumbas]], [[Dagomba people|Dagombas]], [[Frafra people|Frafras]] and [[Mamprusi people|Mamprusis]].<ref name=":2" />

=== Medicinal ===
For the [[Nuba peoples|Nuba]] tribe of [[Sudan]], scars can serve a medicinal purpose; scars above the eyes are believed to improve eyesight, and scars on the temples are believed to help relieve headaches.<ref name=":2" /> In some cultures, scarification is used in traditional medicine to treat some illness by inserting medicine (usually herbs or powdered root) under the skin to heal a variety of infections and illnesses such as Malaria.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cullivan |first=Lauren |date=1998-04-01 |title=The Meanings Behind the Marks: Scarification and the People of Wa |url=https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/african_diaspora_isp/4 |journal=African Diaspora ISPs}}</ref>