Tattoos

Tattoos

Tattooing the skin is the oldest profession in the world. The Japanese, Aztecs, Mayans, Aborigines, and the Africans all had tattoos. The oldest recorded human to date is referred to as the ice man. He was found under what was left of an iceberg near the Austrian border in Italy. Carbon dating places the ice man around 5,300 years old. This was a cultural surprise because he had a few tattoos. Before his discovery, it was popular belief that the oldest culture to tattoo was Egyptians over 3,000 years ago. So the ice man out dates the Egyptians by 2,300 years The ice man had a small cross behind one knee and above his kidneys there were a few tattooed lines about 15 cm long. The first sign of tattooing in the west was brought to us from Tahiti by a man named Captain Cook in 1771.  The Tahitian word for tattooing was “Tatau” which was adopted because it’s the sound of the traditional tattooing. Initially the traditional tattoos were applied by a stick with a comb like head attached to the end. They used another stick to tap the first; this achieved a stabbing motion. This ancient type of tattooing is rapidly gaining popularity once more. While receiving a tattoo you would not honor your experience if you showed any sense of pain or discomfort and the practice usually was a ceremony that lasted for days often resulting in shock for the patron.