Excerpt

The material culture found on the body is physical evidence of human experience, an indication of the physical body’s designation as the site for constructing identities through the use of distinct markers of difference and similarity. It provides a reified object for analysis that captures the markings in the work of identity construction and representation. Turner (1986, 17) sees the body as an indicator of cultural capital. Any visible markers or investments on the body may be interpreted as carriers of a system of signs that stand for and express relations of power. As such, Turner contends, the body can be construed as a repository—an archive of sorts—for these systems of signs that are bearers of social meaning and symbolism. Processes that involve making changes on the body (body decoration) play an essential role in representing identity and knowledge, and provide an important basis for understanding various aspects of the past as well as contemporary culture. Nash (1989, 10–15) contends that body decorations are boundary mechanisms and cultural markers of difference. The differences among groups are index features that are easily seen, grasped, understood, and reacted to in social situations where there are minimal cultural items involved in the membership of the group.[…]