Rufus C. Camphausen, Return of the Tribal: A Celebration of Body Adornment, Piercing, Tattooing, Scarification, Body Painting. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 1997.

This book explores the tribal elements inherent in all forms of body modification-from piercing and tattooing to scarification and genital mutilation.

Jane Caplan, ed., Written on the Body. NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000.

This volume offers a variety of viewpoints on the changing significance of tattoos across history and cultures. Essays explore tattoos from their mythological roots in ancient Celtic society to their popularity as marks of self—expression in the contemporary United States.

Margo DeMello, Bodies of Inscription: A Cultural History of the Modern Tattoo Community. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2000.

DeMello traces the evolution of tattooing from its primitive Polynesian roots, through its rise in popularity within the working class, and finally to its current vogue status in popular culture...