Science and Medicine

History of tattooing

Tattooing has been a global practice for thousands of years, likely since the Neolithic era. Archeological evidence of the practice of tattooing, such as preserved skin markings, has been found along with traditional tools. This evidence of the practice of tattooing has been found in many different places including with evidence of preserved markings from Greenland, Alaska, Siberia, Mongolia, western China, Japan, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Europe, the Philippines, and the Andes. Tattoos served different purposes: as spiritual protection, medicinal therapy, the declaration of social status, and tribal affiliation among other things. Across Oceania, tattooing was performed using traditional hand-tapping methods that have remained largely unchanged for over 2,000 years. In parts of East Asia and the Americas, the cultural role of tattooing has varied, at times representing the high status of warriors and religious leaders while at other times being used as a punitive symbol.

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See also

• ▸Culex
• ▸Karl W. Gullers
• ▸Aedes geniculatus

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