Media Tattoo

Tattoos have been popular for thousands of years. Although the process may have changed some over the decades, the reasons for getting a tattoo may not have changed. All around the world, you can find people with tattoos and this widespread popularity is what makes the tattoo world so varied in design and styles. Where did the tattoo practice begin?

Even as early as the Neolithic period (Stone Age), tattoos were found in Eurasia. Ortiz the Iceman, that was found in the Alps frozen, had 57 tattoos on his body that consisted of simple dots and lines. These early tattoos were the precursor to our tattoos today. Tattoos in Japan were found as many as ten thousand years ago. These first tattoos were most likely made from making cuts in the skin and rubbing the wounds with soot or ashes. After the cuts healed, the remaining color made up their tattoos.

These early tattoos most likely marked some rite of passage that the person had gone through. From acts of bravery to marks of status and rank to pledges of love to punishment and more, these tattoos marked the events of life that the early people had went through. They also signified membership of a particular tribe or ethnic group. This symbolism that was so popular in early times can still be found in many tattoo choices today.

Tattoos were used during the Holocaust to identify the Jews that were in the concentration camps, but they were used for other identification needs as well. Maori chiefs used their facial tattoo that described their identification as their signature on official documents.