Tattoos Art History

The word tatoo (tattoo) has its origins from the Polynesian word “ta”, meaning “to mark something” and the Tahitian word “Tatau” which means “to record something.” Tattoo history dates back 5000 years and there are numerous examples of variations of tattoos.

Over time, this embellishment of the body has been used by many different people and cultures and are therefore found in numerous variations. Even today, the decoration of the body is extremely popular.

Historical findings

One of the oldest known examples of tattoo art was found in 1991 on a 5000 year old man. This man from the Ice Age was found in the mountains between Austria and Italy and is one of the best-preserved corpses ever found. But the most interesting thing about this discovery was that even the skin was so well preserved that it could detect no less than 57 tattoos. Among the tattoos found on the man was a cross on the back of his knee, six parallel lines above the kidneys as well as several lines around both ankles. It is believed that these tattoos were made for reasons of therapy, so as to avoid arthritis.

Back in 1948 archaeologists found further indication of historical tattoos, this time near the border between China and Russia. Archaeologist Sergei Rudenko was underway with the excavation of ancient grave chambers in the Altai Mountains in southern Siberia. In these graves, he found 2400 year old mummies. Their bodies revealed fascinating tattoos of various animals and monsters. We have not quite been able to determine whether these tattoos represent the status of the person that bore them or whether perhaps they had a kind of magical significance or even still it was just pure decoration.

In both the Japanese and Egyptian history there is also evidence of the ancient art of tattooing. In 1891 a fantastic discovery was made during an excavation in Egypt, when the remains of Priestess of the goddess of Hathor was found. Everywhere on her body were dots, lines and very sophisticated geometric patterns.