Tattoos In The Ancient World, 3300bc-400bc
The first recorded tattoos are from 5,300 year old Otzi the Iceman, who had an estimated 61 tattoos. The knowledge that we have today of tattooing in these ancient cultures is from finding tattooed corpses and dating them, rather then finding any writing on the subject. Thus the meaning behind the art and technology is almost entirely speculation, even though these cultures where separated by both land and time, similarities are evident in the meaning and execution of tattooing.
It is believed that the first tattoos were used during acupuncture treatments to relieve pain, due to the simple designs, along with the fact that the placing was symmetric with basic acupuncture spots.
In Libya, both male and female tattooed mummies were found. The tattoos were of various religious symbols like the sun, gods, and goddesses. The most complex design from this time and area was of the god Bes. The Image was found on a mummy from 400bc |
In Egypt, mummies found from 2000bc were adorned with several tattoos. The archaeologists that discovered them said they had "an undeniable carnal overtone". Every tattooed mummy found has been female, although paintings depict people of both genders with tattoos. Artifacts found near the tattooed mummies are believed to be how tattoos were done in ancient Egypt. They were hollow clay discs with sharp bone needles stuck into them. The clay discs would hold the pigment that would drip down the hollow bone onto the tip, which would pierce the skin. In Russia, a tribe from 1000bc was found about 100 miles north of the Chinese border. Many frozen bodies of this tribe, the Pazyryk, some heavily tattooed, were found by archaeologists. One was a chief, who was described by the archaeologists as a very large, threatening man, was totally covered in tattoos of stylized creatures and mythical beasts. These figures of various meaning interlocked with each other to create a complex full body tattoo. |