Historical Look At Tribal Patterns For Tattoos

The history of tattoos is almost as old as the history of mankind itself. The most famous historical figure in the history of tattoos was Otzi the Iceman, going back around 3000 BCE. When thawed out, he was found bearing 57 different figures and symbols on his body. There have also been tattooed mummies that were found in western China going back to around 1000 BCE. If you wish to go back 10,000 years, there appears to have been tattooing in ancient Japan as well.

Tattoos that were found on the body of Otzi and various Chinese mummies were in the form of crosses, straight lines, monsters, and series of dots. The history of tribal patterns for tattoos is quite extensive, rich, and colorful.

The Somoan word tatau is responsible for the modern day word known as tattoo. Tatau in Somoan means to mark or strike twice. The very first reference to the word tatau in the English language was in a diary kept by Captain James Cook of England. In 1769 he stopped off on one of his voyages to the Marquesas Islands. He made notes in his diary of the strange ritual and practice of the natives of printing signs on their body and their calling it tattaw. It was believed that the crew of his vessel returned to England and recanted what they had seen and the rest is history. From England, tattooing spread to the rest of Europe.

Until my next post, click here to find out more about tribal patterns for tattoos