Ancestors: Human beings who have long since passed away and in some cultures have become spirits. Individuals often use body art to honor, communicate with, and refer to their ancestors.

Body Modification: Cultural techniques, such as head elongation, that alter the natural shape of the body to produce a desired look.

Ceremonial: A formal act of observance, a ritual. Dreaming: A concept specific to Australian Aborigines. According to Aboriginal myths, the ancestral Creative Beings established native tribal areas and local food products in a past-present called the "Dreaming." Stories of different Dreamings are activated through song, dance, rituals, and body paint. Exotic: Strikingly different or unusual. The term that has been used to describe people, cultures and body art that "fascinate" because of their difference.

Basket with Lid photo credit: Denis Finnin

Henna: A coloring agent made from the green leaves of a henna plant which, when mixed with ingredients like tea, coffee, cloves, or tamarind, forms a paste. Artists use henna to paint intricate designs on the body, usually hands and feet. Also known as mehndi.

Initiation: Rituals that mark the passage from one state of being to another. For example, from childhood to adulthood, or from bride to wife.

Kaolin: A white clay used as body paint. Among various African groups it is used for healing, for protecting a newborn and its mother, or to help a healer communicate with spirits in the "other world."

Kohl: Carbon that is crushed with other organic materials into a paste and used to rim the eyes. Labret: An object that pierces the area below the lips and above the chin. Moko: The art of tattoo as practiced by the Maori of New Zealand. Worn by both men and women, moko was a sign of distinction, reserved for those who were the most noble and accomplished. Pierce: The act of making a small hole in the earlobes, nostrils, nasal septum, lips, or other parts of the body in order to insert rings, sticks, and other types of ornaments. Pigment: A dry substance that does not dissolve when mixed with liquid but becomes a paint, ink, or other coloring agent. Scarification: A process of decorating the skin by making small surface cuts and rubbing them with charcoal or soot. The results are raised patterns and designs. Sometimes medicines were inserted into the cuts, as in a vaccination. While not widely practiced today, several groups in Africa formerly engaged in scarification. The Tabwa of Zambia call it kulemba, meaning "to inscribe, write or mark."

This molded, painted bottle depicts a seated Moche warrior with partially painted face, ear spools and ear and nose ornaments photo credit: Denis Finnin

Tattoo: A permanent body art technique that creates marks, symbols, and pictures by inserting color under the skin with fine needles. The word tattoo comes from the Polynesian tau tau.

Transformation: The process of changing in appearance, form, or condition. Individuals participating in various rituals might wear paint or other adornments as they are "transformed," for example, from a spiritual leader into a spirit being.