IF YOU GET TATOO, IWILL DO IT TOO!

Editor Robert Arp writes: “Everyone who has (or keeps) a tattoo probably thinks of the tattoo as a constant

visual reminder

of who they are and/or what they have experienced, whether the experience is a positive or negative one.”

Like any collection – and like tattoos themselves – this book is a mixed bag.

To my mind, some of the best stuff comes at the beginning, in essays on the history of skin art,

which dates to the

Bronze age, and possibly longer ago than that.

In many cultures tattoos were part of the rites of attaining manhood,

though in ancient Egypt, it was predominantly a female practice.

Tattoos may have been employed as talismans, protecting their bearers from harm.

Mummies have been discovered bearing symbols of the god Bes,

who protected women during pregnancy and birth.

The picture of the cat was downloaded from the Internet, no animals were harmed!