Ben Ford, Department of Anthropology, will present a free lecture entitled “Marking Our Places in the World” at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art on Friday, September 30, 2011.
Since Neolithic time, cultures around the world have used physical marks as rites of passage, marks of status and rank, symbols of religious and spiritual devotion, decorations for bravery, and sexual lures and fertility, among others. This lecture will discuss how humans use tattoos to mark meaning, how sailors and maritime travelers have spread this practice from other cultures, and how different classes within societies co-opt activities like tattooing.
The lecture will begin at 7:00 p.m. and is presented in conjunction with the Mark Perrott’s exhibition of black and white photographs entitled “Tattoo Witness.”
