Customer Reviews

Tribal Tattoo Designs

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Maarten Hesselt van Dinter's "Tribal Tattoo Designs" focuses on the cross-cultural history of tattooing, tattooing technology, and commonly expressed motifs. Also examined are societies where tattooing holds a powerful impact in recent history, where and how this custom is practiced, and its significance as a form of human transition and metamorphosis. Extensive research is given to tribal designs, which often were abstract images based on local objects encountered in the environment, such as animals and landmarks. The artwork in "Tribal Tattoo Designs" is extensively detailed, of an academic nature, and should be on the bookshelf of all anthropologists.

This is an amazing compilation of tribal tattoos from around the world and throughout time. True to its name it features tribal designs, not the neo-tribal tattoos that have come popular today.

I found the pictures to be great as I was looking to find out more about tribal designs from many cultures. I was served well with pictures, but not so well with explanations of what the tattoo was, what it meant, which class would wear it in society, how it was applied, the history behind the tradition, etc.

I am using the book as a reference and find that it only becomes great with supporting articles. I had done extensive reading on tribal traditions from around the world and found that this book served well as a companion to these and other articles, but not as a stand alone book. Without the history behind the pictures, you loose the whole meaning.

I strongly recommed this book, be it as a source book or simply for a tattoo enthusiaste. However, I would urge everyone to supplement this book with further readings on the matter.

This is an excellent book for those looking for indigenous art and original "root" design. It addresses body art from a large spectrum of social groups and all continents. The illustrations are very clear and detailed, and it is well organized to allow you to follow the evolution of a design as it jumps from country to country, culture to culture. I would recommend it for anyone who wants to find a particular tattoo design, either for personal use or simple research.

I thoughly enjoyed this book, as it contains numerous serious
tribal body art designs. My only quibble is that the illustrat-
ions and pages were very small, and it was sometimes hard to pick
out the designs, especially on the Scythians. If only it were
larger in pagination, and illustration!

Book does a good job of providing illustrations from various tattooing cultures around the world. There isn't much in the way of explanation, however.