Editing Scarification (section)

=== Rites of passage and belonging ===
Traditionally, the most common reason for scarification has been as a [[rite of passage]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ludvico|author2=Kurland |title=Symbolic or Not-so-Symbolic Wounds: The Behavioral Ecology of Human Scarification|journal=Ethology and Sociobiology|date=1995|volume=16|issue=2|pages=155–172|doi=10.1016/0162-3095(94)00075-i}}</ref>

Scarification has been widely used by many West African tribes to mark milestone stages in both men and women's lives, such as puberty and marriage. In many tribes, members unwilling to participate in scarification were generally not included in the group's activities, and are often shunned from their society.<ref name="nat geo">{{cite magazine |last=Guynup |first=Sharon |title=Scarification: Ancient Body Art Leaving New Marks |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0728_040728_tvtabooscars.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040805205749/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0728_040728_tvtabooscars.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 5, 2004 |magazine=National Geographic}}</ref> According to anthropologist Grace Harris, group members lacking the normal characteristics consistent with the group are not considered as having acquired the full standing as agents in their society; they would also lack the capacity for meaningful behavior, such as greeting, commanding, and {{clarify|date=July 2024|text=stating.}}<ref name="Harris 1989 599–612">{{cite journal |last=Harris |first=Grace Gredys |date=1989 |title=Concepts of Individual, Self, and Person in Description Analysis |journal=American Anthropologist |volume=91 |issue=3 |pages=599–612 |doi=10.1525/aa.1989.91.3.02a00040}}</ref> Therefore, scarification can transform partial tribe members into "normal" members entirely accepted by the group. Scarification is a form of language not readily expressed, except through extensive and intricate greetings, and gives the ability to communicate fully, which is a key element for being considered as a normal member of the group.<ref name="Harris 1989 599–612" />

One reason why scarification is used as confirmation of adulthood is how it shows the ability to endure pain. With young men, the endurance of the pain of scarring exhibits strength and discipline, especially in tribes where males have roles as hunters and warriors. A young man who has already experienced the feeling of torn or cut flesh is considered less likely to fear the teeth of a wild animal or the tip of an enemy's spear.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Roman |first=Jorge |date=2016-12-01 |title=African Scarification |url=https://doi.org/10.1001/jamadermatol.2016.0086 |journal=JAMA Dermatology |volume=152 |issue=12 |pages=1353 |doi=10.1001/jamadermatol.2016.0086 |pmid=27973657 |issn=2168-6068}}</ref> In Ethiopia and Zambia, elaborate scarification is often done on women at puberty, used to denote a willingness to be a mother. The markings show that she can stand the pain of childbirth,<ref>{{Cite book |last=DeMello |first=Margo |title=Encyclopedia of Body Adornment |publisher=Greenwood Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0313336959 |location=United States of America |language=en}}</ref> as well as being an indication of her emotional maturity.<ref name="ezakwantu" />

[[File:Tribal crocodile scarification, Sepik River, Papua New Guinea.jpg|thumb|Tribal crocodile scarification done near the [[Sepik River]] in Papua New Guinea]]
Some of these rites of passage have spiritual or religious roots, such young boys in the [[Chambri people|Chambri]] tribe of [[Papua New Guinea]] undergo scarification resembling crocodile scales to mark their transition into manhood, a ritual which stems from the belief that humans evolved from crocodiles.<ref name=":2" />

In [[Ethiopia]], [[Surma people|Suri]] men scar their bodies to show that they have killed someone from an enemy tribe; the [[Mursi people|Mursi]] practice scarification for largely aesthetic reasons in order to attract the opposite sex and enhance the tactile experience of sex.<ref name=":2" /> The [[Ekoi people|Ekoi]] of [[Nigeria]] believe that the scars serve, on their way to the afterlife, as money.<ref name=":2" />