Ancient Art

Have you ever wondered when tattoo started and where? I have; plenty. Unfortunately, we will never really know. But we can be certain of this; tattoos have probably been around for almost as long as humans have inhabited this planet and were aware enough of their own existance to create art. I think that some people simply find it fascinating that art can be carried with them; wherever they go. Portable art, if you will.

While we don't know and never will know who the first person was to accidently (maybe on purpose--but I don't think so) poke themselves with a sooty splinter; we can be sure of this. Tattooing has been around a very long time. Women who lived when and where Jesus lived tattooed their faces and hands. That's 2000 years right there. Women in ancient Egypt tattooed their body and limbs; this evidence dates back 3500 to 4000 years. But the oldest of them all is the tattooed "Iceman". His frozen remains revealed tattoos on his back, knees and other joints; this fellow is 5200 years old (now those are some old tattoos). Anthropologists speculate that his tattoos were more theraputic in nature due to their placement. Follow this link to read the full article (Tattoos: The Ancient and Mysterious History by Cate Lineberry) in the Smithsonian Magazine. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/tattoo.html