another perspective...thread drift,
i remember seeing images in the
Time/Life book the "Epic of Man"
of ancient and tribal peoples
who decorated their skin by
cutting with sharpened stones
and shells, and irritating the
cuts by rubbing in ashes, to
form welts.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0728_040728_tvtabooscars.html

http://www.randafricanart.com/Scarification_and_Cicatrisation_among_African_cultures.html

this scarfication (and burning "branding")
can be seen on several web pages
and like a tatoo (without ink)
some can actually be beautiful
but a very frightening trend
http://www.bmezine.com/scar/scar-faq.html

http://modblog.bmezine.com/category/scarification/

www.scarabbodyarts.com/scarification/