Tattoos: History

Body art is a modern trend that has risen in popularity. The amount of ink that people have on their skin is tremendous compared to recent years, especially since its increase in fashionable development beginning in the early 90's. Although this trend seems to have suddenly come out of nowhere, the practice of body art has been used from ancient civilizations from 2000-4000 BC. Moreover, according to a Smithsonian article, the oldest known example comes from subject "Iceman" that has been carbon dated to be at least 5,200 years old. Egyptians were also known to posses a grand amount of skin ink. Smithsonian again referenced how evidence of this was shown through women figurines possessing tattoos on their bodies and limbs. Even these examples are roughly from 3500 BC. How did these ancient cultures practice this art? What Methods were used. Upon further research, historians have concluded that they simply applied sharp points on wooden handles and pieced together that tying many of these utensils together would "provide repeated patterns of multiple dots."

"Iceman" 3500-4000 BC Ötzal, Austria

Tarim Basin, China. 1000-6000 BC

The artwork itself was nothing short of peculiar. The image to the right shows dashed markings on the Iceman that are clearly from sharp, inked utensils. There are apparently over 50 markings like these that surround his body showing the strong application of this technique. The image to the left also shows an early adaptation of Egyptian tribal tattoos. With a little more detail shown, and a clear appreciation for tasteful art, we can see the advancement of tattoo popularity rise over a good couple hundred years. With these examples being thousands of years old, we are not completely sure if they had religious significance, tribal identification, or were made purely for the sake of art, but they nonetheless provide us with astonishing evidence that tattoos have been around for a very long time

So what happened to this trend? When did the decline begin, and why is it suddenly so popular? I think the best way to answer this is by explaining how it never really went out of style. Just about every civilization from Greece to Egypt, Celtics to Japan, New Zealand to Vikings and countless others have shown some visual representation of tattoo art (tattootemple). That being said, it is safe to assume that each society was driven to individualize themselves through their inked skin and show the world where their allegiance lies. The practice of tattooing has been around almost as long as human beings have and to this day we still cover our bodies in this nostalgic artwork. 

http://tattootemple.hk/history-of-tattooing

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/tattoos-144038580/?page=3

http://www.archaeology.org/issues/109-1311/features/tattoos/1405-china-tarim-basin-mummy