Chris Rainier is one of today's leading documentary photographers. A result of seven years of world travel, his newest book (printed on FSC-Certified paper by Appleton Coated), Ancient Marks: The Sacred Origins of Tattoos and Body Marking documents traditions of tattooing, scarification, piercing, and other forms of body-altering art, origins of which date to the dawn of mankind. Here, in more than one hundred elegant black-and-white images, he reveals not only the haunting beauty of these often mystical forms, but also connects them to humanity's enduring efforts to tell stories, forge identity, and create links to the divine. From the African savannah to the barrios of Los Angeles, from New Zealand to Egypt, and Brazil to Burkina Faso, Rainier follows these marks on the human body to the powerful meanings that resonate within.