Dinembo (Makonde wax tattoo marks)

Dinembo are the raised tattoo patterns once worn by Makonde men and women on the Mueda plateau of Mozambique and in the neighbouring districts of southern Tanzania. The skin was cut with a small blade and rubbed with vegetable carbon, leaving dark, slightly raised lines; the repertoire was geometric (chevrons, zigzags, straight lines, dots) with occasional animal or plant motifs. The practice ended in the early 1960s and survives today mainly on the faces of the oldest generation (Dias 1964–70; Krutak).

On masks, carvers reproduced dinembo not by cutting the wood but by applying thin strands and beads of blackened beeswax to the surface. This applied wax ornament is one of the most reliable identification markers for Makonde-complex work: it is easily mistaken for carved scarification or, on small dotted examples, for pockmarks, and because the wax grows brittle with age it is often partly lost, leaving faint ghost patterns on the pigment. Carved scarification in shallow relief also occurs, especially on later helmet masks, so both techniques may be found on one piece (Kingdon 2002).