Tattoos: Another Ancient Art

The other day my group held a meeting to discuss our awesome case study project.  While having our meeting we may have gotten slightly off topic, and started discussing different tattoos designs, etc.  Then I wondered, how long have people been fascinated with these permanent designs?  Obviously this is not a recent trend.  You still see pictures circulating of the sweet old dudes with a lot of tattoos.  We’ve also discussed Otzi the Iceman, who also had 50 tattoos forming lines and crosses.  But how far does this really go back?   

Some of Otzi's tattoos

I found this article that seems to have a lot of information on the history of tattoos in the archaeological record.  As you need the skin to see tattoos, it’s hard to find any evidence of their existence in very ancient graves on actual bodies.  Our friend Otzi has been the oldest discovery made that has tattoos (dated to over 5,200 years old).  There is, however, other evidence that tattooing did take place in ancient Egypt beginning in 4000-3500 B.C.  Female figurines found in tomb scenes had tattoos on their thighs, and some bronze implements were identified as tattooing tools from 1450 B.C.  There are also three women mummies that have been found from 2000 B.C. with tattoos.  Evidence has also been found in many other ancient cultures, such as the Inuit, ancient Greeks, Romans, and the ancient Chinese.



Egyptian tattooing instruments dated to c.1450 B.C.



The tattoos found on these Egyptian mummies were mostly dotted patterns of lines and diamonds, and used a black or other dark pigment.  Brighter colours and more intricate design were popular among other different ancient cultures.  These tattoos have been interpreted to show status or nobility, belonging to a specific group, personalization, and other protective symbolism.  The placement of tattoos seemed to vary between the cultures.

Tattooed hand of Charibaya mummy c.900-1350 A.D.

Again, I find this topic interesting because this is something from ancient cultures that still exists today, which relates back to my post about fear of the dead (For those who have not read it: Vampires, Zombies, and Revenants, Oh My!).  Tattoos are a trend that still exists to demonstrate personality, belonging to a group, or another personal reason.  Designs and colour vary wildly, as they did in ancient cultures, but the underlying idea is still the same.  I think that, although we seem to try to separate ourselves from these individuals from ancient cultures, we share more – psychologically speaking – than is always recognized.  The thought process evident in archaeological sites is something that really interests me, and I find it fascinating the parallels that can be made between the past and present.  It would be interesting to find what other evidence there is for overlap between trends today and those of the past.  If you know of any intriguing ones, let me know!    

Works Cited:

Lineberry, C. 2007. Tattoos: The Ancient and Mysterious History. Smithsonian.com. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/tattoo.html?c=y&page=1#

Otzi. 2013. South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology. http://www.iceman.it/en