Article Written By EIH Subject Matter Expert
Dr. Sonika Sandhu
Tattooing is an ancient art of beautification and ornamentation and has been around since Neolithic times. It was a prevalent practice during the Upper Paleolithic of Europe as tools involved in making these have been found from various sites. At present the oldest reported discovery of tattoos on human skin come from the Otzi with 61 tattoos on him, the Ice man has been dated to 3370-3100 BCE. He was found in 1991 by two Germans hiking in the Alps near the Italian-Austrian border. Initially they thought it was modern corpse frozen in ice but once it was analyzed it turned out to be 5300 years old. The mummy was named Otzi after the valley where it was found. Besides him there are other tattooed mummies recovered from nearly 49 archaeological sites in Alaska, Mongolia, China, Egypt, Philippines, Andes, Sudan and Siberia. However recently in 2018 the oldest figurative tattoos in the world were discovered on two mummies from Egypt which are dated between 3351 and 3017 BCE.
Ethnographic and historical texts reveal that tattooing has been practiced by just about every human culture in historic times. The ancient Greeks used tattoos from the 5th century on to communicate among spies; later, the Romans marked criminals and slaves with tattoos. In Japan, criminals were tattooed with a single line across their forehead for a first offence; for the second offence an arch was added, and finally, for the third offence, another line was tattooed which completed the symbol for “dog”: the original three strikes and you’re out! Evidence suggests that the Maya, Inca and Aztec used tattooing in rituals, and that the early Britons used tattoos in certain ceremonies. The Danes, Norse and Saxons are known to have tattooed family crests onto their bodies. During the crusades, some Europeans tattooed a cross on their hands or arms to mark their participation and indicate their desire for a Christian burial should they not return.
Making tattoos has been part of many cultures and societies of the world in the past. It was a widespread practice among the Austronesians of Taiwan and coastal regions of China before 1500 BCE. Some associate these tattoos to head hunting practice. These populations practiced facial tattooing. Facial Tattooing was also common to Taiwanese Aborigines, Islander Southeast Asians, Micronesians, Polynesians, and the Malagasy people.
Tattoos were also common to the Papuans and Melanesians who used very distinctive obsidian skin piercers or needles. Other ethnolinguistic groups which practices tattooing were the among the Ainu people of Japan; some Austroasians of Indochina; Berber women of Tamazgha (North Africa); the Yoruba, Fulani and Hausa people of Nigeria; Native Americans of the Pre-Columbian Americas; and the Welsh and Picts of Iron Age Britain. The word ‘tatau’ in Tahitian means to mark or strike, for them it refers to application of ink to skin using sharp stick or bones. Some cultures in the Arctic circle used to use a needle to pull carbon embedded thread under the skin to create linear designs.
In Egypt tattoos were common from 4000-3500 BCE specially in women. Sometimes besides people inanimate objects like tools and daggers were also tattoos as seen at the site of Gurob in northern Egypt. Mummies of the 11 dynasty were found to be tattooed before their burial, the tattoo styles were simple horizontal and vertical lines and dots across the body possibly indicating the flow of energy or life. An interesting find was the mummy of Amunhet, a priestess of Goddess Hathor, her remains were found inked with dots and lines across her body.
In Asian cultures specifically in China several tattooed mummies have been reported from Xingjian Province. These have been dated to 2 millennium BCE. Three tattooed mummies (dated back to the 300 BC) were extracted from the permafrost of Altai Mountains in second half of the 20th century. There were three mummies – one female and two males. Their tattooing involved animal designs repertory. The designing was carried out in a curvilinear style, to make the tattoo look fascinating and appealing.
It is clear that tattoos were widespread in the ancient world, the question now arises is why were they made and what significance can be attached to them. In some cultures of Egypt and India tattoos were associated with healing properties and were an attribute of religious worship for example, in Egypt tattoos appear to have been used to relieve painful health problems like chronic pelvic peritonitis (inflammation of the peritoneum). In the Philippines, tattoos were also used as marks of rank and accomplishment and were also believed to endow the wearer with magical properties. Ancient Greeks and Romans are also known to have tattooed their slaves and criminals so they could be easier to identify if they escape.
The Significance of tattoos has evolved over time in many cultures and societies around the world. It was first associated with healing and spiritual properties, they were also used to perform acupuncture. Eventually used to mark criminals and segregate marginalized people from mainstream society. It can tell a story of travels or it can be a political mark of ones ideology. Tattoos are the silent representatives of time, of religion, medicine and polity.
