The History Of Tattoos

Have you ever wondered where tattoos originated from? Have you ever wondered or tried to research on the history of tattoos? Contrary to the common misconception, tattoos are not an invention of this or the last century. Tattoos or body art has been around from the ancient Egyptian times and even much before that. It's been found in relics of the Bronze Age as well. The most noteworthy proof of ancient tattoos can be found on the mummies across the world from Peru to Nabia. An "Iceman" was discovered in the glaciers of the Tyrolean Alps, dating back to 3000 BC. This man had been buried in the glaciers and belonged to the Bronze Age. He had a simple stripes band tattoo across his back and right ankle and the inside of his knee had a tattoo of a simple cross.

The Egyptians made tattoos a huge part of their culture and if you need any proof of this then you need only take a look at their history. Amunet, a worshiper of the goddess Hathor at Thebes had a tattoo of dots running parallel all over her body. While no one is under of what the tattoos were actually supposed to symbolize, there are those that think that they are either a sexual reference or somehow a symbol of the paranormal.

It has also been proven that the Mayans practiced the art of tattoos in their everyday life, as relics have been unearthed that testify to this fact. Some of the examples are as old as 300 to 900 AD, and they are some of the most bizarre examples ever unearthed. Both men and women partook in the arts, and full body tattoos were popular even in these ancient times. Sometimes tattoos even took deep root in religion.

Captain James Cook is the one that came up with the word "tattoo", and he did so in the year 1769. He visited several different island throughout the pacific and nearly every island that he visited was into tattoos for different reasons. These reasons might have been cosmetic, or even tied to religious beliefs. The word tattoo comes from the Polynesian cultures. The entire thing was documented and recorded by Sir Joseph Banks and showed that he was the first man in the western world to be adorned with a tattoo as a sort of souvenir.

Samuel O'Reilly is responsible for the modern tattoo machine, and he is the one that commercialized the tattoo in the western world. He worked in a barber shop which was known as a tattoo parlor.

Throughout world wars one and two. Tattoos became ever popular and they gained many different uses, whether those uses were for decoration or for protection from other worldly beings. During the 1970's many people began well versed in the art of giving tattoos and becoming tattoo artists, and even Charles Darwin acknowledged the importance of these pieces of art in our culture.

Tattoos are definitely not new and they have done a great job of influencing culture all over the world for hundreds of years.

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Jean Meierhofer is an Expert in taking very nice Pictures Of Tattoos. She's also a big fan of Angel Wings Tattoo shows.

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