The books in these group show gorgeous indigenous and tribal jewelry. Many of the forms of jewelry we wear today are modeled after these traditional forms.

"Africa Adorned" by Angela Fisher is one of the most gorgeous books around. This book is not specifically focused on body art, but rather all forms of adornment. Not to be missed, even if you have to get it out of the library.

"Power and Gold: Jewelry from Indonesia and the Phillipines" is a museum issued catalog of jewelry, but with a great narrative. Gorgeous pics of mondo piercing jewelry, headhunter tattoos,and all. This is a book I spotted at an APP convention once and made a note of--years later I found a bargain on a used copy. Soooo totally worth it! Check out the picture of that GIGANTIC spiral ear jewelry, and then the picture of the lady wearing it. It attaches to her headdress!

And finally, Blake Perlingieri's book is listed here, as well as in the "history of modern piercing" category. Numerous photos and descriptions of jewelry from Nomad's piercing museum collection appear here. The book makes the point that many pieces of body jewelry in museums around the world have been misidentified as other things. Very worth it! (and did I mention you can buy that book here on Tribe?)

Happy reading!