Sicanje

Drawing of a Bosnian tattooed woman from the late 19th century.

Sicanje or bocanje was a widespread custom mostly among Roman Catholic Croat teenage girls and boys of the central regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the Dalmatia region of Croatia.[1][2] The practice, which has been widespread among Albanians (see Albanian traditional tattooing) and also Vlach women, native populations of the western Balkans, predates the Slavic migration to the Balkans, and consequently Christianity itself, tracing back to Illyrian times, but scholars documented it in the 19th century.

  1. ^ "Traditional Croatian Tattoos: Meet the tattoo artist keeping tradition alive". 3 March 2021.
  2. ^ "Traditional Croatian Tattoos". 4 March 2018.