Ancient Ink, the first book dedicated to the archaeological study of tattooing, presents new, globe-spanning research examining tattooed human remains, tattoo tools, and ancient art. Connecting ancient body art traditions to modern culture through Indigenous communities and the work of contemporary tattoo artists, the volume's contributors reveal the antiquity, durability, and significance of body decoration, illuminating how different societies have used their skin to construct their identities.

Table of Contents

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction - AARON DETER-WOLF AND LARS KRUTAK
• Part 1: Skin
• 1. New Tattoos from Ancient Egypt: Defining Marks of Culture - RENÉE FRIEDMAN
• 2. Burik: Tattoos of the Ibaloy Mummies of Benguet, North Luzon, Philippines- ANALYN SALVADOR-AMORES
• 3. Reviving Tribal Tattoo Traditions of the Philippines - LARS KRUTAK
• 4. The Mummification Process among the “Fire Mummies” of Kabayan: A Paleohistological Note - DARIO PIOMBINO-MASCALI, RONALD G. BECKETT, ORLANDO V. ABINION, AND DONG HOON SHIN
• 5. Identifications of Iron Age Tattoos from the Altai-Sayan Mountains in Russia - SVETLANA PANKOVA
• 6. Neo-Pazyryk Tattoos: A Modern Revival - COLIN DALE AND LARS KRUTAK
• 7. Recovering the Nineteenth-Century European Tattoo: Collections, Contexts, and Techniques - GEMMA ANGEL
• 8. After You Die: Preserving Tattooed Skin - AARON DETER-WOLF AND LARS KRUTAK
• Part 2: Tools
• 9. The Antiquity of Tattooing in Southeastern Europe - PETAR N. ZIDAROV
• 10. Balkan Ink: Europe’s Oldest Living Tattoo Tradition - LARS KRUTAK
• 11. Archaeological Evidence for Tattooing in Polynesia and Micronesia - LOUISE FUREY
• 12. Reading Between Our Lines: Tattooing in Papua New Guinea - LARS KRUTAK
• 13. Scratching the Surface: Mistaken Identifications of Tattoo Tools from Eastern North America - AARON DETER-WOLF, BENOÎT ROBITAILLE, AND ISAAC WALTERS
• 14. Native North American Tattoo Revival - LARS KRUTAK
• 15. The Discovery of a Sarmatian Tattoo Toolkit in Russia - LEONID T. YABLONSKY
• 16. Further Evaluation of Tattooing Use-Wear on Bone Tools - AARON DETER-WOLF AND TARA NICOLE CLARK
• Part 3: Art
• 17. What to Make of the Prehistory of Tattooing in Europe? - LUC RENAUT
• 18. Sacrificing the Sacred: Tattooed Prehistoric Ivory Figures of St. Lawrence Island, Alaska - LARS KRUTAK
• 19. A Long Sleep: Reawakening Tattoo Traditions in Alaska - LARS KRUTAK
• References
• Contributors