Lars Krutak received his Ph.D. at Arizona State University’s School of Human Evolution & Social Change in 2009. Since 2003, he has been studying the socioeconomic impacts of tourism and tourism promotion on indigenous Rarámuri (Tarahumara) arts and crafts vendors living in the Copper Canyon region of Mexico for his dissertation.
Krutak began tattoo research in 1996 as a graduate student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Trained as an archaeologist and cultural anthropologist, he spent three years exploring the complex symbolism and practice of tattooing throughout the Arctic.