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shared in communal ones. Religious expres-sion appears in many areas of life, including the modification of one’s body.

Body Modification and ReligionPeople have manipulated their bodies for religious reasons for thousands of years. A person’s physical devotion may take many forms: painting the face or body, fasting, or shaving one’s head. Sikhs are required to allow their hair to grow; men wrap it in a turban, but the turban is optional for women. Male infant circumcision is mandated in Judaism through a ceremony called a Bris millah, or Covenant of Circumcision.

In times of intensive worship, such as ceremonies, festivals, or other meaning-ful events, believers may undergo voluntary painful and arduous physical trials, such as walking long distances on the knees or self-flagellation (whipping). Tamil Hindu

worshippers insert hooks in the skin of their back and spears through their cheeks at several important festivals throughout the year. During the annual Thaipusam festival, Tamil Hindus show their devotion to the Hindu god Murugan. Devotees pierced by hooks and spears make a six-mile trek, called kavadi, through the streets to the sacred Batu Caves.

Humans have also been permanently marking the skin with tattoos to harness healing forces or protective powers for thousands of years. These sacred tattoos both refer to the symbols of a religious belief system and produce a magical outcome. In this way, they are similar to religious language and writing, which speak of a belief system while invoking the power of the belief system (see Box 13.3).

In 1991, an ancient mummy was found in thawing ice in the Ötztal Alps, on the Austrian-Italian border. Called Ötzi the Ice Man due to the site of his death, he may have been attacked and murdered there 5,300 years ago. Subsequent analysis of his body has provided a wealth of information about his life, including the fact that he suffered from a host of ailments. At the points on his body where he would have experienced physical pain, Ötzi has more than 50 tattoo marks at 12 different sites. The placement of the tattoos, mostly along his back, shows that they would have been applied by another person, likely a religious healing specialist, attempting

Figure 13.7 BODY PIERCING RITUAL AMONG TAMIL HINDU This young Tamil Hindu man is participating in the Panguni Uthiram festival, in Tamil Nadu, India, in which he pierces his cheeks with a spear to show his devotion. Like participants in the Thaipusam festival, devotees pierce body parts and also carry offerings and images of the gods in chariots. Credit: © Avena Matondang/

Images of Anthropology

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© Avena Matondang/Images of Anthropology