Scarification involves scratching, etching, burning/branding, or superficially cutting designs, pictures, or words into the skin as a permanent body modification or body art. The body modification can take roughly 6–12 months to heal
Still visualizing number of people that must have passed through this same blade
Scarification involves scratching, etching, burning/branding, or superficially cutting designs, pictures, or words into the skin as a permanent body modification or body art. The body modification can take roughly 6–12 months to heal. In the process of body scarification, scars are purposely formed by cutting or branding the skin by various methods (sometimes using further sequential aggravating wound-healing methods at timed intervals, like irritation). Scarification is sometimes called cicatrization (from the French equivalent).
Here are County's that practice Scarification
Scarification, which is also known as cicatrization in European works, is sometimes included within the category of tattooing, due to both practices creating marks with pigment underneath and textures or pigments on the surface of the skin. In Africa, European colonial governments and European Christian missionaries criminalized and stigmatized the cultural practices of tattooing and scarification; consequently, the practices underwent decline, ended, or continued to be performed as acts of resistance.
North Africa
Between 5000 BCE and 4000 BCE, pastoral communities from the Sahara peopled the region of Neolithic Egypt and Neolithic Sudan. In this shared material culture of the Nile Valley region, figurines with markings have been found, which indicates that tattooing and scarification may have been cultural practices among these pastoral communities
Algeria
in the temple region of the head and indication of pregnancy, may have been created by Djennenke peoples between the 11th century CE and the 13th century CE.
At Djenné-Djenno, the sculpture of a mother, with four children, features scarification design patterns (e.g., lines on temples, circles on arms, circles on chest). The sculpture has been dated between the 12th century CE and the 15th century CE. In the westernmost region of Djenné-Djenno, there was also the head of a terracotta statuette, which may have been constructed in the latter period of Djenné-Djenno or a period thereafter, and featured three snakes encircling the neck region and oblique-shaped scarification markings on its cheeks; snakes are a recurring trait among statuettes found in the Inner Niger Delta region.
Maternity figurines and mounted warrior figurines from the Inland Niger Delta region of Djenné-Djenno in Mali, which feature dotted scarification markings in the temple regions of their heads, may have been the Kagoro clan of the Soninke people or the Djennenke peoples between the 13th century CE and the 16th century CE.
Jennenke-styled brass alloy figurines with serpent ornaments and scarification markings, which have been dated between the 15th century CE and the 17th century CE, may have been inspired from earlier figurines from Old Jenne and Dogon-Tellem cultural traditions, as well as may have their origin in Dogon Country, Mali. Based on the composition of the brass alloy, the brass alloy may have derived from the Hartz Mountains.
Nigeria
Nok sculpture remnants from Katsina Ala feature various stylistic details, including facial markings.[20] One of the Nok sculptures from Katsina Ala has been dated, via thermoluminescence dating, to 400 ± 125 BCE
Between 660 CE and 1045 CE, the Igbo Ukwu culture of the Kingdom of Nri produced various types of bronze items (e.g., beetles, flies, grasshopper/locust eggs, and heads of animals such as elephants, leopards, monkeys, pythons, rams, and snails) from Igbo Ukwu and Ezira.
Early archaeological evidence of body modification, such as tattoo and scarification markings, have been found among the Benin, Ife, Igbo, Nok, and Ukwa peoples, including male and female Benin bronzes, which have been dated to the 16th century CE and the 17th century CE.
In Nigeria, evidence of scarification has been found on Ife sculptures composed of terracotta and copper, which have been dated to 1100 CE, and Owo sculptures composed of terracotta, which have been dated to 1400 CE. There are also Yoruba facial markings that have been documented during the 19th century CE and the 20th century CE.
Central Africa
Bantu-speaking Central Africans and other Bantu-speaking Africans, such as the Baluba, Bafipa, Batshokwe, Baushi, Mashona, constructed decorated furnaces, which symbolized transformation as well as were made in the shape of women, with breasts, and scarification usually made in the region of the stomach, during the Early Iron Age in Africa.
At Dirikoro, in the southwestern-most region of Ethiopia, engraved and painted pastoral rock art have been linked to cattle scarification practices, via branding, and body scarification practices (e.g., Riru, Kichoa) among the Mursi people. Mursi men receive Riru scarification markings, in the form of a Miren design pattern (a double ‘u’ symbol), which may be received when cattle raids are successful; while Mursi women receive three Miren-styled markings, Mursi men receive four; in addition to being connected by heat used in the process of scarification, both oxen and Mursi men receive four Miren-styled markings. While Saharan pastoral rock art has been dated to the second half of the seventh millennium BP, Ethiopian pastoral rock art has been dated between 5000 BP and 4000 BP.
Square symbols in western Ethiopian rock art and facial scarification design patterns, mostly found on women from Ethio-Sudanese borderland groups, such as the Gumuz people and the Kwama people in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia and the Mabaan people of Sudan, share a close similarity in appearance A single cow out of a herd, managed by cattle pastoralists, also had a reticular-shaped scarification marking that matched Bel Bembesh rock art in Assosa. Among western Ethiopian rock art sites in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, the rock painting sites of Bel Bembesh and Bel ash-Sharifu may be dated to the Later Stone Age; the painted Bel K’urk’umu rock art, near Assosa, has been radiocarbon dated between 4965 BP and 875 BP, which corresponds with pottery sherds found near the rock art that have been dated between 1985 BP and 275 BP; these rock painting sites have been attributed in origin to local Koman speakers, who may have resided in the area for millennia, prior to the influx of Sudanese herders during the mid-Holocene.
At Schroda, located in the region of Zhizo, Limpopo, South Africa that was peopled by Bantu-speaking peoples, 2000 figurine remnants with scarification markings were found, which date between the 7th century CE and the 8th century CE; from this foundation, Great Zimbabwe emerged in the 13th century CE.
Here is the Reasons
1. Rites of passage and belonging
Traditionally, the most common reason for scarification has been as a rite of passage.
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.
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 stating.
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.
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