Do you know the history behind the tattoo?
“Hate them or love them, tattoos have developed into a distinct part of our culture making it hard for those who oppose them to ignore their significance. Whether it is an act of spontaneous rebellion or personal self expression, tattoos are worldwide art forms which are forcibly becoming more and more accepted.”
“Origin of Tattooing
Believe it or not, some scientists say that certain marks on the skin of the Iceman, a mummified human body dating from about 3300 B.C., are tattoos. If that’s true, these markings represent the earliest known evidence of the practice. Tattoos found on Egyptian and Nubian mummies date from about 2000 B.C., and classical authors mention the use of tattoos in connection with Greeks, ancient Germans, Gauls, Thracians and ancient Britons.
Tattooing was rediscovered by Europeans when exploration brought them into contact with Polynesians and American Indians. The word tattoo comes from the Tahitian word tattau, which means "to mark," and was first mentioned in explorer James Cook’s records from his 1769 expedition to the South Pacific. Because tattoos were considered so exotic in European and U.S. societies, tattooed Indians and Polynesians drew crowds at circuses and fairs during the 18th and 19th centuries.
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https://www.msu.edu/~krcmari1/individual/history.html
“A brief history of tattoos
the word tattoo is said to has two major derivations- from the polynesian word ‘ta’ which means striking something and the tahitian word ‘tatau’ which means ‘to mark something’. the history of tattoo began over 5000 years ago and is as diverse as the people who wear them. tattoos are created by inserting colored materials beneath the skins surface. the first tattoos probably were created by accident. someone had a small wound, and rubbed it with a hand that was dirty with soot and ashes from the fire. once the wound had healed, they saw that a mark stayed permanently. despite the social sciences' growing fascination with tattooing, and the immense popularity of tattoos themselves, the practice has not left much of a historical record.
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bronze age
in 1991, a five thousand year old tattooed man ‘ötzi the ice man’ made the headlines of newspapers all over the world when his frozen body was discovered on a mountain between austria and italy. this is the best preserved corpse of that period ever found. the skin bears 57 tattoos: a cross on the inside of the left knee, six straight lines 15 centimeters long above the kidneys and numerous parallel lines on the ankles. the position of the tattoo marks suggests that they were probably applied for therapeutic reasons (treatment of arthritis).
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http://www.designboom.com/history/tattoo_history.html
-- The History Behind the Tattoo ( By Tattoos Pictures )
