Stigma

Stigma: Marking Skin in the Early Modern World, Volume 1, is a scholarly examination of dermal marking practices during a period of intense global trade and travel. This history volume analyzes how skin cultures from Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas interacted and reshaped one another. The text explores the interwoven histories of tattooing, branding, and baptismal marks, demonstrating that early modern societies viewed these cutaneous signs as interconnected rather than separate phenomena.

Drawing from social history and anthropology, the book investigates how permanent marks affirmed traditional beliefs and adapted to new political and economic demands. It details how Europeans interpreted Indigenous tattooing through the lens of Christian pilgrimage and how theologians linked the marks of witchcraft to divine stigmata. This work of social science provides a comprehensive look at body art and tattooing across diverse global landscapes.