Even Ancient Cultures Thought Tattoos Were Cool If you have a tattoo today, chances are that someone told you that you were making a mistake putting the ink on your body forever. Tattoos can be seen as; a fashion trend, a commitment to an organized group (such as a military branch or a street gang), a symbolic act of remembrance, a rebellious act by a teenager trying to prove a point to their parents, etc. The lesser known fact behind tattooing however, is that is an art that has been practiced since the neolithic period. Tattoos can be found in nearly every culture across the globe, and many cultures have thousand-plus year histories with the art. Every culture has a different significance to tattoos as well. Curing ailments, identifying
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Ötzi was a European man from around the Austria/Italy border. He died buried underneath a glacier in the Alpine mountains and unintentionally his body was mummified. Ötzi is important to the history of tattoos not only because he has the oldest known tattoo, but because he has 61 distinguishable total tattoos on his almost 5,300 year old body. He has tattoos on his torso, legs, lower back, and wrists. Unlike tattoos of today, it doesn’t appear that the Iceman’s tattoos were works of art. Instead they are mostly parallel lines and X’s. Scientists who have examined Ötzi’s body think that his tattoos were most likely some form of therapy for pain. They have come to this conclusion based on the facts that the tattoos are located in common acupuncture points. An interesting fact about Ötzi’s tattoos are how they were created. It is believed that cuts were purposely made on the body and then had charcoal inserted and rubbed around inside. The discovery of Ötzi and his tattoos has helped researchers in their study of tattoo traditions and uses …show more content…
Titled the Kojiki, this book describes two different styles of tattoo. These two styles could not be more opposite either. One is to identify someone of high class or status, the other is to identify a criminal. An example of when a tattoo what be used to identify a criminal was Azumi no Murajihamako. Azumi was accused of treason and thus was tattooed as punishment. It is unclear exactly when tattoos went from socially acceptable to being seen as a negative status symbol; but it is thought to have been during the middle of the Kofun period (300-600 AD). After 600 AD until 1600 AD there is little to no Japanese recordings of tattoo culture. This is possibly because tattoos had become such a negative part of society. The infamous tattoos in Japan which belong to the Yakuza did not arrive on the island until the 1600’s. The Yakuza are the reason why often tattoos in Japan are now associated with criminals
Ötzi was a European man from around the Austria/Italy border. He died buried underneath a glacier in the Alpine mountains and unintentionally his body was mummified. Ötzi is important to the history of tattoos not only because he has the oldest known tattoo, but because he has 61 distinguishable total tattoos on his almost 5,300 year old body. He has tattoos on his torso, legs, lower back, and wrists. Unlike tattoos of today, it doesn’t appear that the Iceman’s tattoos were works of art. Instead they are mostly parallel lines and X’s. Scientists who have examined Ötzi’s body think that his tattoos were most likely some form of therapy for pain. They have come to this conclusion based on the facts that the tattoos are located in common acupuncture points. An interesting fact about Ötzi’s tattoos are how they were created. It is believed that cuts were purposely made on the body and then had charcoal inserted and rubbed around inside. The discovery of Ötzi and his tattoos has helped researchers in their study of tattoo traditions and uses …show more content…
Titled the Kojiki, this book describes two different styles of tattoo. These two styles could not be more opposite either. One is to identify someone of high class or status, the other is to identify a criminal. An example of when a tattoo what be used to identify a criminal was Azumi no Murajihamako. Azumi was accused of treason and thus was tattooed as punishment. It is unclear exactly when tattoos went from socially acceptable to being seen as a negative status symbol; but it is thought to have been during the middle of the Kofun period (300-600 AD). After 600 AD until 1600 AD there is little to no Japanese recordings of tattoo culture. This is possibly because tattoos had become such a negative part of society. The infamous tattoos in Japan which belong to the Yakuza did not arrive on the island until the 1600’s. The Yakuza are the reason why often tattoos in Japan are now associated with criminals