For thousands of
years people have used tattoos to decorate their bodies for spiritual and
personal reasons. These permanent
designs—sometimes plain, sometimes elaborate, always personal—have served as
amulets, status symbols, declarations of love, signs of religious beliefs,
adornments and even forms of punishment.
The earliest known examples were for a long time Egyptian
and were present on several female mummies dated to c. 2000 B.C. But following
the more recent discovery of the Iceman from the area of the Italian-Austrian
border in 1991 and his tattoo patterns, this date has been pushed back a
further thousand years when he was carbon-dated at around 5,200 years old.
There's certainly evidence that women had tattoos on their
bodies and limbs from figurines c. 4000-3500 B.C. to occasional female figures
represented in tomb scenes c. 1200 B.C. and in figurine form c. 1300 B.C., all
with tattoos on their thighs. And then,
of course, there are the mummies with tattoos, from the three women already
mentioned and dated to c. 2000 B.C. to several later examples of female mummies
with these forms of permanent marks found in Greco-Roman burials at Akhmim
Because this seemed to be an exclusively female practice in
ancient Egypt, mummies found with tattoos were usually dismissed by the (male)
excavators who seemed to assume the women were of "dubious status,"
described in some cases as "dancing girls." The female mummies had
nevertheless been buried at Deir el-Bahari (opposite modern Luxor) in an area
associated with royal and elite burials, and we know that at least one of the
women described as "probably a royal concubine" was actually a
high-status priestess named Amunet, as revealed by her funerary inscriptions.
And although it has long been assumed that such tattoos were
the mark of prostitutes or were meant to protect the women against sexually
transmitted diseases.
What instruments did they use?
It is possible that an implement best described as a sharp
point set in a wooden handle, dated to c. 3000 B.C. These instruments are also remarkably similar
to much later tattooing implements used in 19th-century Egypt.
What did these tattoos look like?
Most examples on mummies are largely dotted patterns of
lines and diamond patterns, while figurines sometimes feature more naturalistic
images. The tattoos occasionally found in tomb scenes and on small female
figurines which form part of cosmetic items also have small figures of the
dwarf god Bes on the thigh area.
Can you describe the tattoos used in other ancient
cultures and how they differ?
Among the numerous ancient cultures that appear to have used
tattooing as a permanent form of body adornment, the Nubians to the south of
Egypt are known to have used tattoos. The mummified remains of women of the
indigenous C-group culture found in cemeteries near Kubban c. 2000-15000 B.C.
were found to have blue tattoos, which in at least one case featured the same
arrangement of dots across the abdomen noted on the aforementioned female
mummies from Deir el-Bahari. The ancient Egyptians also represented the male
leaders of the Libyan neighbors c. 1300-1100 B.C. with clear, rather
geometrical tattoo marks on their arms and legs and portrayed them in Egyptian
tomb, temple and palace scenes.
The Scythian Pazyryk of the Altai Mountain region was
another ancient culture which employed tattoos. In 1948, the 2,400 year old
body of a Scythian male was discovered preserved in ice in Siberia, his limbs
and torso covered in ornate tattoos of mythical animals. Then, in 1993, a woman
with tattoos, again of mythical creatures on her shoulders, wrists and thumb
and of similar date, was found in a tomb in Altai.
Can you describe the tattoos used in other ancient
cultures and how they differ?
Among the numerous ancient cultures that appear to have used
tattooing as a permanent form of body adornment, the Nubians to the south of
Egypt are known to have used tattoos. The mummified remains of women of the
indigenous C-group culture found in cemeteries near Kubban c. 2000-15000 B.C.
were found to have blue tattoos, which in at least one case featured the same
arrangement of dots across the abdomen noted on the aforementioned female
mummies from Deir el-Bahari. The ancient Egyptians also represented the male leaders
of the Libyan neighbors c. 1300-1100 B.C. with clear, rather geometrical tattoo
marks on their arms and legs and portrayed them in Egyptian tomb, temple and
palace scenes.
The Scythian Pazyryk of the Altai Mountain region was
another ancient culture which employed tattoos. In 1948, the 2,400 year old
body of a Scythian male was discovered preserved in ice in Siberia, his limbs
and torso covered in ornate tattoos of mythical animals. Then, in 1993, a woman
with tattoos, again of mythical creatures on her shoulders, wrists and thumb
and of similar date, was found in a tomb in Altai. The practice is also
confirmed by the Greek writer Herodotus c. 450 B.C., who stated that amongst
the Scythians and Thracians "tattoos were a mark of nobility, and not to
have them was testimony of low birth.”
Accounts of the ancient Britons likewise suggest they too
were tattooed as a mark of high status, and with "divers shapes of
beasts" tattooed on their bodies, the Romans named one northern tribe
"Picti," literally "the painted people."
Yet amongst the Greeks and Romans, the use of tattoos or
"stigmata" as they were then called, seems to have been largely used
as a means to mark someone as "belonging" either to a religious sect
or to an owner in the case of slaves or even as a punitive measure to mark them
as criminals. It is therefore quite intriguing that during Ptolemaic times when
a dynasty of Macedonian Greek monarchs ruled Egypt, the pharaoh himself,
Ptolemy IV (221-205 B.C.), was said to have been tattooed with ivy leaves to
symbolize his devotion to Dionysus, Greek god of wine and the patron deity of
the royal house at that time. The fashion was also adopted by Roman soldiers
and spread across the Roman Empire until the emergence of Christianity, when
tattoos were felt to "disfigure that made in God's image" and so were
banned by the Emperor Constantine (A.D. 306-373).
We have also examined tattoos on mummified remains of some
of the ancient pre-Columbian cultures of Peru and Chile, which often replicate
the same highly ornate images of stylized animals and a wide variety of symbols
found in their textile and pottery designs. One stunning female figurine of the
Naszca culture has what appears to be a huge tattoo right around her lower
torso, stretching across her abdomen and extending down to her genitalia and,
presumably, once again alluding to the regions associated with birth. Then on
the mummified remains which have survived, the tattoos were noted on torsos,
limbs, hands, the fingers and thumbs, and sometimes facial tattooing was
practiced.
With extensive facial and body tattooing used among Native
Americans, such as the Cree, the mummified bodies of a group of six Greenland
Inuit women c. A.D. 1475 also revealed evidence for facial tattooing. Infrared
examination revealed that five of the women had been tattooed in a line
extending over the eyebrows, along the cheeks and in some cases with a series
of lines on the chin. Another tattooed female mummy, dated 1,000 years earlier,
was also found on St. Lawrence Island theBering
Sea, her tattoos of dots, lines and hearts confined to the arms and han.
Japanese men began adorning their bodies with elaborate
tattoos in the late A.D. 3rd century.
The elaborate tattoos of the Polynesian cultures are thought
to have developed over millennia, featuring highly elaborate geometric designs,
which in many cases can cover the whole body. Following James Cook's British
expedition to Tahiti in 1769, the islanders' term "tatatau" or
"tattau," meaning to hit or strike, gave the west our modern term
"tattoo." The marks then became fashionable among Europeans,
particularly so in the case of men such as sailors and coal-miners, with both
professions which carried serious risks and presumably explaining the almost
amulet-like use of anchors or miner's lamp tattoos on the men's forearms.
Modern Japanese tattoos are real works of art, with many
modern practioners, while the highly skilled tattooists of Samoa continue to
create their art as it was carried out in ancient times, prior to the invention
of modern tattooing equipment. Various cultures throughout Africa also employ
tattoos, including the fine dots on the faces of Berber women in Algeria, the
elaborate facial tattoos of Wodabe men in Niger and the small crosses on the
inner forearms which mark Egypt's Christian Copts.
In the Maori culture of New Zealand, the head was considered
the most important part of the body, with the face embellished by incredibly
elaborate tattoos or ‘moko,’ which were regarded as marks of high status. Each
tattoo design was unique to that individual and since it conveyed specific
information about their status, rank, ancestry and abilities, it has accurately
been described as a form of ID card or passport, a kind of aesthetic bar code
for the face. After sharp bone chisels were used to cut the designs into the
skin, a soot-based pigment would be tapped into the open wounds, which then
healed over to seal in the design. With the tattoos of warriors given at
various stages in their lives as a kind of rite of passage, the decorations
were regarded as enhancing their features and making them more attractive to
the opposite sex.
Although Maori women were also tattooed on their faces, the
markings tended to be concentrated around the nose and lips. Although Christian
missionaries tried to stop the procedure, the women maintained that tattoos
around their mouths and chins prevented the skin becoming wrinkled and kept
them young; the practice was apparently continued as recently as the 1970s.
Reasons Why People Get Tattoos
Body art has taken many forms throughout many cultures.
Countless reasons motivate people to permanently apply images to their bodies.
Depending on the time or the culture, the reasons range from rite of passage,
status symbol, sign of social position and rank, membership in a select group,
rebellion, and artistic expression.
Millions of specific personal reasons inspire people to get
tattoos, but trends are easily identified that explain why many people in the
United States and other Western societies choose to have one or more tattoos.
Memorial tattoos – Tattoos are frequently inspired by
the loss of a loved one such as a spouse, parent, grandparent, or child. A
person will have the name of the deceased along with any combination of images,
symbols, words, and birth and death dates to honor the passing of a loved one.
Placing this memorial onto the flesh is a powerful tribute to the dead person
and allows the person with the tattoo to maintain a physical connection to
person who has died.
Birth tattoos – An increasing amount of mothers and
fathers celebrate the birth of their children by tattooing the names of
children along with birth dates on their bodies. A November 2007 report from
KING 5 News in Seattle stated that moms getting tattoos related to their children
were a full-blown trend. The report quoted tattoo artist Chris Collett as
saying that mothers come to his shop all the time to get birth dates and infant
footprints inked onto their bodies.
Sports tattoos – Those people who paint their faces
in the team colors know nothing of devotion compared to fans that get tattooed
with the names and logos of their favorite sports teams. When the Colorado
Rockies went to the World Series in 2007, the Rocky Mountain News reported that
Denver tattoo shops had been hit with a run on clients who wanted Rockies
tattoos. The proprietor of Freaky's Tattoo and Body Piercing said that sports
tattoos had been popular for years.
Military tattoos – Members of the armed forces have
been getting tattoos for decades to signify their membership in a group and
mark rites of passage like tours of duty. But the old basics like
"USMC" or the sailors' pin-up girl have been updated by contemporary
soldiers, who sadly these days often honor their fallen comrades with tattoos.
A touching article in the L.A. Times recounted the story of a Marine Corps Iraq
War veteran having the names of his 10 dead comrades tattooed onto his back
along with artwork. The shrapnel scars of his own wound received from the
explosion that killed his friends were intermixed with the tattoo.
