Handpoked tattoos are the universally ancient tattoo technique, so as you would expect have an incredibly diverse and rich history. They’ve been present throughout so many cultures and have held varying social-cultural significance throughout time.

There is no single origin to tattoos, with current research suggesting many civilisations began tattooing in isolation of each other, as in, without knowing other civilizations were also permanently marking each other. The earliest evidence that has been found of tattoos dates back to Neolithic times (the final division of the Stone Age). Mummified tattooed remains have been found in 49 locations throughout the world including Alaska, Mongolia, Eastern Europe, Nordic civilisations, Egypt, Sudan, China, Russia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Hawai’i, Borneo, and Peru.

Mummified remains are rare as they exist either because they were deliberately mummified, examples in this French museum, or the individual deceased in exceptional environmental conditions such as extreme cold or arid environments. Thus

This year Adam Deter-Wolf published an interactive map of all found mummified tattoo remains throughout the world, the website is one of the favourite things ever. It excludes tattooed remains deliberately preserved in Europe and Japan, and is an incre

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/tattoos-144038580/

AFRICA

Egypt

Research on tattoos in ancient Egypt found that they were considered a form of healing that evidence found so far suggests was solely for women. This paper, Natural mummies from Predynastic Egypt reveal the world’s earliest figural tattoos, has beautiful explanations of the different intentions behind the tattoos, with some of them used as safeguarding for pregnancy or birth. European “Orientalists” who visited Egypt in around the 17th Century would write accounts of Egyptian women with tattoos, such as Edward Lane, who wrote during his 1833-35 stay in Egypt that “some women of the lower orders tattooed their faces with blue designs, usually their chins and foreheads, and also the backs of their hands, their arms, feet and the middle of their bosom… simple dots, circles and lines were often used.” Artists would use indigo or soot as the pigment, both of which have antiseptic properties which help prevent infection - afterwards tattoos would also also be applied with herbs such as cloves or leaves from a white beetroot to reinforce the design and also to reduce swelling.

Nubians, an ancient society Indigenous to present-day southern Egypt and Sudan also had practices of tattooing very similar to Egypt. In Nubia, tattooing appeared to have been gendered too, with tattooing originally exclusively for women, but for all genders by the Meroitic period. Identifying the Practice of Tattooing in Ancient Egypt and Nubia is comprehensive account, but note that also of the evidence they used is empirical indicating a colonized perspective.

Mummified remains have found that Nubians had a classic “dot-dash- dot” style

EUROPE

The renowned ‘Otzi the Iceman’, a 5,200-year-old frozen mummy found in the early ’90s has the oldest preserved tattoos that have been found so far. This amazing case study done in 2015 was the first complete mapping of all 71 of ‘Iceman’’s tattoos, explaining how the tattoos were done as a form of therapy, intended to alleviate joint pain.

For access to this article, a free ResearchGate account is required, but I would highly recommend it - it includes images and explanatory breakdowns of each tattoo that are utterly incredible.

Ancient Greece and Rome

Both Ancient Empires were introduced to tattooing from Persians around 600 BC, and in both tattooing generally carried negative connotations, associated with prisoners, slaves and convicts.

Historical and ethnographic records indicate that tattooing was also practised much more recently in the Coptic, Islamic and modern eras

In ancient Rome, fugitives were branded with ‘F’

Throughout Ancient Rome there is also evidence of soldiers as well as arms manufacturers getting tattoos. It is believed that this practice continued right through into the 9th century. Slaves were also marked with a tattoo in Ancient Roman times to show they had paid their taxes.

AISA

China

Tattooing has been known throughout China for thousands of years, yet for the large part it was an uncommon or stigmatised practice.

In Ancient China, tattoos were stigmatised, typically for criminals.

However, Ancient Chines literature also refers to folk heroes and bandits as having tattoos, such as the novel Water Margin, which tells the stories of bandits who were covered in tattoos.

During the Han dynasty (~600-700 BC) a government document on punishment outlined over 500 crimes that were considered of tattoo punishment - the direct translation more in line with ‘Ink Crimes’.

http://en.chinaculture.org/2014-12/30/content_589505.htm

https://www.tattoo.com/blog/ancient-china-tattoos-complicated-relationship/

Japan

Tattooing in Japan is currently considered to have extended back to the Palaeolithic period, varying in being an expression for spiritual or decorative purposes.

https://www.zealandtattoo.co.nz/tattoo-styles/japanese-tattoos/

OCEANIA

Polynesia

Polynesians’ high intricate and elaborate tattooings’ legacy began over 2000’s years ago, and is the source of other civilizations tattooing practices, such as in New Zealand (Aotearoa). Originally widespread throughout Polynesian societies, the artform was suppressed by colonization.

https://www.zealandtattoo.co.nz/tattoo-styles/polynesian-tattoo-history-meanings-traditional-designs/
https://www.pbs.org/skinstories/history/

In Samoa, the skill of tattooing is passed down from father to son, and the materials and tools used have remained largely unchanged throughout time.

Philippines

Historically in the Philippines, tattooing was suspected to have been created independently of other cultures, and was used as a marking of rank and accomplishment. An Ethnography of Pantaron Manobo Tattooing: Towards a Heuristic Schema in Understanding Manobo Indigenous Tattoos is a long term research project on tattoos Indigenous to the Philippines. Obviously this is just one aspect of Philippino tattoos, but it is nonetheless is incredibly detailed and informative.

Aotearoa (New Zealand)

The Māori of Aotearoa, have also been practicing tattooing for centuries in the sacred form of Tā moko, a method of tattooing originally brought from Eastern Polynesia, which then developed as its own practice in isolation of other civilisations. Tā moko consists of extremely intricate curvilinear designs that are visual representations of the wearer’s personal and community identity - somone’s life story can be understood through the placement across their body and type of design. Traditionally Tā moko referred to tattoos reserved for the face, with Kirituhi referring to body tattoos, however as of current Tā moko is used as a blanket term. Here is an extract from a documentary in which practitioner Mark Kopua explains the significance of facial Tā moko. The practice went through a horrifically serious disruption and near extinction due to colonial suppression. Following the colonisation of Aotearoa in 1840, the Tohung Suppresison Act of 1907 outlawed the teaching and practice of Maori culture, and this act was only repealed (removed) in 1962.

- for generations the practice was outlawed and later adopted by gangs, creating widespread and discrimination against such an incredible cultural practice.

https://www.zealandtattoo.co.nz/tattoo-styles/maori-tattoo/

https://www.sunsettattoo.co.nz/tamoko

Peru

“While actual physical evidence of tattooing is rare, there are a great number of artifacts indicating that tattooing was likely a common and esteemed practice in the Moche world”

Evidence

Native America

Native America - found 2,000 year old tattoo needles at an archaeological site in Pueblo, Utah, with tattoo ink remnants on cactus spines that were bound with yucca leaves.

Tattooing vital part of religious practices throughout the different cultures

https://www.archaeology.org/issues/107-1311/features/tattoos?start=5

Inuit

used a yellow colouring aswell as other darker pigments

Mummified remains of six Greenland Inuit women reveal evidence for facial tattoos, including a line extending over the eyebrows, along the cheeks or a series of lines on the chin.

https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/decolonize/2018/03/20/the-indigenous-collective-using-tattoos-to-rise-above-colonialism

Canada

Colonisation and Contemporary Tattooing
https://www.pbs.org/skinstories/history/beyond.html

It was the horrors of colonisation that brought the word “tattoo” (or its equivalent) back into European languages - tattoo historian (ikr how cool is that profession) Steve Gilbert explains that the word is a combination of the Marquesan “tatau” and the Samoan “tatu”. This article by tattoo historian Allison Hawn, explains really clearly colonisations relationship to tattooing, particularly regarding how tattooing is now regarded in the contemporary world. In this article she beautifully explains a question that confused me - if tattoos were so prominent throughout civilisations in Ancient Europe, why is the word tattoo a product of colonisation, and why so many contemporary designs appropriations of colonised cultures?

Basically, Hawn explains that its because in Europe, Christianity was on the rise prior to and during colonisation, and Christianity considered tattoos un-Christian, meaning that they became highly stigmatised and deeply unpopular - if tattooing was practicsed majority of the it was underground. A few exceptions to this have been found, for example, gictorican society women wore tattoos as custom couture,

So, when colonizers travelled the world by attempts to “Christianize”

In my opinion its utterly horrific that colonisation was the reason that tattooing resurfaced in the western world, and I believe that it is not only respectful but extremely important to understand what tattooing has been, not simply how it is perceived today. It’s also incredibly interesting to learn how different civilisations utilised tattooing throughout time - marks of self-expression, prestige, punishment, therapy, religion, adornment…. so many themes have remained consistent throughout cultures and civilisations, but how they have been articulated on skin is incredibly diverse.

Contemporary Tattooing in the Western World

My most recommended resource about tattooing would be Tamara Santibañezs’ book ‘Tattooing as Liberation Work’, which explores the therapeutic nature of tattoos, their relationship with trauma, and the ethics involved. Tamara is so incredible that they believe their work should be accessible to everyone, and have this link via their website for free access, but the book also available through bookstores, and there is a copy in my studio for your perusal.

Instagram Accounts

@arhcaeologyink : (my favourite)

@ttthistory : showcasing photos and information on recent and ancient tattoo history

Podcasts