Spines Of Mesquite Tattooing
date: label: Accession Date
content: 1 May 1885
label: Collection Date
content: 1885
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. Edward Palmer
notes: label: Notes
content: The mesquite spines were included in the NMNH Constitution Ave. Lobby Case exhibit featuring the ethnobotanical collections of Dr. Edward Palmer, Dec. 2006 - Jan. 2008. See also NMNH Department of Botany Edward Palmer collections web exhibit page on this artifact: http://botany.si.edu/colls/palmer/narrative_page.cfm?Narr=2&locality= . Identified there as: These had been used by the Cocopa .... The Cocopa used the spines to create geometrical tattoos on girls' chins by puncturing the skin around the chin and rubbing charcoal into the wounds. Two or three spines were tied together and were heated in a fire to harden. A female friend performed the tattooing, and the practice served as a rite of passage for Cocopa girls, a visible mark of their entry into adulthood.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 30 Jul 2020
label: Specimen Count
content: 8
place: label: Place
content: Arizona, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Cocopa (Cocopah, Cucapá)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 015724
label: USNM Number
content: E76156-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Botanical