Anthropological description
The French anthropologist Robert Gessain interested himself in what he called the tache pigmentaire congenitale or coloured birthmark, publishing multiple papers in the Journal de la Société des Américanistes, an academic journal covering the cultural anthropology of the Americas. Gessain spent time with the Huehuetla Tepehua people in Hidalgo, Mexico, and wrote in 1947 about the spots "location, shape, colour, histology, chemistry, genetic transmission, and racial distribution". He had previously spent several winters in Greenland, and wrote an overview in 1953 of what was known about the spot. He hypothesised that the age at which it faded in various populations might prove to be a distinguishing characteristic of those groups. Gessain claimed that the spot was first observed amongst the Inuit.Hans Egede Saabye, a Danish priest and botanist, spent 1770–1778 in Greenland. His diaries, published in 1816 and translated into several European languages, contained much ethnographic information. He described the spot on newborns, saying he had seen it often when the infants were presented naked for baptism. A second Danish observer was doctor and zoologist Daniel Frederik Eschricht, mainly based in Copenhagen. In 1849 he wrote of the "mixed" babies he had delivered at the lying-in hospital. He also says that "the observation made for the first time by Saabye about Inuit children has been completely confirmed by Captain Holbøll", who sent him a fetus pickled in alcohol.Gessain goes on to state that it was only in 1883 that an anthropologist mentions the spot.
Others say it is because the baby does not want to leave the mothers womb, so Songzi Guanyin will kick it out, leaving the bruise. A small portion of people wrongfully believe it is caused when the doctor is slapping the babys backside to make it cry. Scientifically, it is also referred to as "蒙古斑" (Pinyin: Měng Gǔ Bān; literally: mongolian spot)
In Khmer, it is known as "khnau" (ខ្នៅ) which translates to Mongolian spot as well as other skin conditions such as vitiligo and leucoderma.The mark is also common among Maya people of the Yucatan Peninsula where is referred to as Wa in Maya, which means "circle". In Ecuador, the native Indians of Colta are insultingly referred to in Spanish by a number of terms which allude to the slate grey nevus.In Spanish it is called mancha mongólica and mancha de Baelz (see Erwin Bälz).In Iñupiaq, is it called auttaq or auktaq, which relates to the word for blood and also means mole. See also
Nevus flammeus nuchae, also known as stork bite
List of cutaneous conditions

References


== External links ==