Body decoration

the long version

"This unrivaled collection of striking photographs traces more than ten thousand years of cultural history - from the body painting of stone-age peoples to the self-inflicted piercing of punks and the enduring image of the carnival clown in modern industrial society - illustrating an art form that is finding new relevance in the world of today. To set the plates in context, a distinguished team of art historians, ethnologists and archaeologists has provided enlightening commentaries which document the development of an extraordinarily broad spectrum of body painting, tattooing and scarring techniques."--Jacket.