The correct option is "c. It indicated personal rank."
In the culture of the peoples of Oceania, the tattoo, a form of corporal ornamentation, has an important social function and is the result of a ritual art that is an aesthetic creation in itself. Lines or bands of dark colors are inserted under the skin by soaking an ivory comb or sharp tooth bone in the pigment from the nut or pine resin. The motifs used are the same as in wooden sculptures. Sometimes it produced such a large swelling in the mouth that patients had to feed themselves with carved funnels because they could not touch food with their hands. Full face tattoos meant a high birthmark due to the cost of the operation. So important were the ritual tattoos that the heads of the chiefs, after dead, were emptied, baked and dried to preserve them. Some are still preserved in the museums.