Abstract

Ben Robitaille is an independent researcher specializing in pre-electric tattooing instruments. He lives in a tiny village in the northern Appalachians with his two kids and absolutely no pets. He studied at the University of Montreal from where he obtained a bachelors degree with a major in Anthropology and a minor in Latin American studies. In the course of his academic training, Ben got sidetracked from a specialization in Mesoamerican studies by a long standing interest in tattooing, which he was given an opportunity to explore further in graduate school under the tutelage of Professor Paul Tolstoy. Ben's thesis ballooned completely out of control and for a variety of reasons he stepped back and became a gardener and eventually the co-owner of an organic vegetable farm, his main occupation to date. The cultural history of tattooing technologies has remained an important hobby for him throughout, and next year he will celebrate 25 years of learning on the subject.