If you think some skin art can be painful now. Try to imagine how skin art began. Its highly likely that prehistoric man accidentally stumbled onto the idea of tattooing. Early tattoos were done by cutting a pattern into the skin and then rubbing ash, dirt and different dark substances into the wound to create a scar tissue shaped in a specific way. This was known as a Keloid. This form of tattooing was mostly seen in Africa among some tribes who to this day still practice this form of skin art. The Keloid on the left looks sort of like a tree or mushroom. Certainly not a very perfected form of skin art, but a form nonetheless.

The sole purpose of early tattoos were directly related to the cultural and religious beliefs of the tribes who adorned them. These tattoos were also often seen as a rite of passage into adulthood.  We do know that as early as the year 2000 BC that ancient Egyptians were practicing the arts of henna and tattooing specifically for cosmetic forms of these arts. Mummies have been discovered who had previously had eyeliner tattoos.

So a few hundred years back a very well preserved mummy was found inside of a glacier in the Alps. This was the body of a hunter who had perished there over 5,200 years before. Eventually his body froze into the glacier and was preserved in ice for so very long. This hunter was dubbed the ICEMAN but also came with a few additional surprises. One that found scientist boggled the most were his well preserved tattoos. The ICEMAN had 47 tattoos covering his body that were considered medicinal tattoos. All of his tattoos were located in acupuncture points all over the body. This indeed was a boggling prospect for scientist who know that acupuncture was invented by the ancient Chinese around the time of the birth and life of Christ. This is 3000 years later then what the Iceman disproves. They determined that his tattoos were done with slivers of bones which then had charcoal rubbed into the open wounds to create a tattoo once the swelling subsided.

Tattooing is even mentioned at least six times in the Bible. As God was punishing Cain for killing Able he places a mark on Cain so that anyone who found him would not kill him. Some may consider this more of a branding, but no doubt the concept is much the same. The ancient Polynesians also practiced their own art of tattooing which consisted of a tattoo that covered the entire lower half of the body and even in some instances, the entire body including their face and hands. Yes, I see no shame in admitted the tattoo above here has incredible artist quality. And the tattoo is a hell of a creation too! So here it is shown how the ancient art of Polynesian body suits has lived on until today.

Last but not least it is important to know that the word TATTOO is actually derived from the Polynesian word “TATU” which means to mark.

Only in the last one hundred years or so can anyone claim to have come near to perfecting the art of tattooing. It is also likely an ongoing learning practice that will only continue to improve with time!

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