Body Modification / Research / Tattooing

The word tattoo comes from the Tahitian “tatu” which means “to mark something”. The practice of tattooing is said to originate over 10,000 years ago.

Tattoos of animals and mythical creatures were discovered on the bodies of ancient Egyptian mummies, and around 2000 BC tattooing spread to China. Due to the influx of Christianity, tattooing began to be associated with criminals and other religions such as Paganism. They were prohibited by Constantine the Roman emperor in Europe until the eighteenth century, gaining more popularity when King George V was tattooed. Ötzi the Iceman is stil one of the oldest known tattooed individuals to date. His body was found to have died 5300 years ago, well preserved in ice in Europe.

For many years tattoos have become a symbol of membership within a clan or cult, for example tribes and the Hell’s Angels. Tattooing has been used throughout the centuries as a way of identification; showing social status, rank. It was a cultural tradition within Borneo that women were the ones tattooing, marking individuals with designs that associated them with the tribe they belonged to. There are many other examples of how other cultures utilised tattoos, for example Dayak warriors earned hand tattoos once they had taken a life, or a ‘head’, Kayan women tattooed their hands with delicate patterns depicting lace gloves. Polynesians used tattoos to identify with their tribal communities, ranks and their family, introducing a specific facial style of tattooing titled ‘Moko’, still existing in the world today. There is evidence of tattoos being utilised within rituals in Mayan, Incas and Aztec cultures. Isolated Alaskan tribes learned tattooing from the Ainu. Tattoos in these communities were usually a mark of respect, securing status for life.

Britons in the west used tattoos for ceremonies, for example the Danes, Norse and Saxons marked themselves with their family crests; and this practice still exists today, however tattooing disappeared from Western culture from the 12th to the 16th centuries, due to the Norman invasion in 1066, and the fact that the Normans did not endorse tattooing.

However, the art of tattooing was highly prominent in Japan. Tattooing developed from a way to identify criminals (using a three mark offence system), to an art form. The Japanese bodysuit originates from around the 18th century. The body suit is a reaction to Japan’s law that only royalty may wear ornate clothing. The middle classes used tattooing as a way of defying this, decorating themselves with intricate detailed body tattoos.

Tattooing back then was a long, gruelling process which involved the ‘stick and poke’ method, which is still practiced today. It was only through the introduction of the tattoo gun in 1891 by Samuel O’Reily. 

Although tattooing in the west took a less popular turn due to the influx of hepititis and other complications, it has now become a western phenomenon with almost 40% of millenials having a tattoo. Due to the rise of inked instagrammers social media personalities, and famous tattooed celebrities, tattoos have never been so credited and accepted.

This content is collated from various sites/books, and will be used within the publication.

Sources used:

http://www.powerverbs.com/tattooyou/history.htm
https://knickerbockermfg.co/blogs/thenews/36920065-irezumi
http://finance.youngmoney.com/careers/boomers-to-millennials-generational-attitudes/