Tattooed Mountain Women and Spoonboxes of Daghestan: Magic Medicine Symbols in Silk, Stone, Wood and Flesh - Tapa blanda

Beneath the rural Islamic society in ancient villages perched among the Great Caucasus Mountains, animist tattoos on women and decorations on ritual spoon boxes share symbols that are believed to protect the hearth and the family. Here, three experts have recorded this fascinating system of folk medicine, allowing the women s own voices to reveal the living vocabulary of this hidden body language. The book is a unique key to the symbols that adorn original objects found in Daghestan - as well as throughout the carpet world. More than 120 colour images and 180 specially drawn tattoos illustrate this unique vanishing tradition On the southernmost border of the Russian Federation lies Daghestan - a land of ancient villages perched among the Great Caucasus Mountains by the shores of the Caspian Sea. Beneath this rural Islamic society, animist tattoos on women and decorations on ritual spoon boxes share symbols that are believed to protect the hearth and the family. Three experts have recorded this fascinating system of folk medicine, allowing the women s own voices to reveal the living vocabulary of this hidden body language. The result also provides a key to the symbols that adorn spoon boxes and other original objects found in Daghestan - as well as throughout the carpet world. Part one of the book covers the vanishing art of tattoos found uniquely on women, part two covers the designs of domestic spoon boxes.