The Roots of Tattoos

The pride and joy of many people in today’s era was once something that was considered rare and risky. Tattoos have evolved over time too take on different meanings. Historically, tattoos consisted of marks that signified forms of decoration, religious theories, or social status (Kang and Jones). In modern times, people use tattoos as a form of self-expression, symbolism, or even fashion purposes. (Kang and Jones). With many different interpretations,

Through my research I will analyze how the art of tattooing has changed over time, what risks are involved, and if people are judged based on their tattoos. The question that I will ultimately be answering is “Are tattoos considered taboo in todays society?”

The Roots of Tattoos

The art of tattooing has existed since the prehistoric times of our world. In 1991, a five thousand year old tattooed man ‘Otzi the ice man’ frozen body was discovered in the Swiss Alps (Schmid). Too this day, Otzi’s body remains the oldest and top preserved body of that time period. It is estimated that Otzi had at least 57 carbon tattoos, which were simple lines and dots on his left knee forming a cross, in addition to dots and lines on his right ankle and his lower spine.

Tattoos were also part of many ancient cultures; in China tattoos were considered a cruel practice. Up until the Qing dynasty, felons had tattoo characters such as 囚 ("Prisoner") tattooed on their face so civilians knew about their wrong doings (Schmid). These markings made it clear for civilians too tell who was corrupt and unethical at the time. In addition, slaves were marked with tattoos to display ownership to the public. This practice was not as common but it was still utilized by many proprietors.

Dating back to the Paleol...

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...This occurred because a sizeable number of soldiers returned home with tattoos. This era created a specific kind of tattooing that came to be known as “old school.” Old school tattooing contained thick, solid, black outlines of a picture, which would be filled by colored ink. Sailor Jerry aka Norman Collins was regarded as one of the first “old school” tattoo artist of the time period (Bloom). He began tattooing as a young adolescent with hand schemes, and grew up to become one of the most influential tattoo artists in America. A resurgence struck the United States from 1970 through 1990, which would be known as the Modern-Primitive movement (Jausknechi). Founder Fakir Musafar believed Modern Primitives looked at the worldwide history of tattoos and body modification. This movement created the tattoo style knows as “Tribal tattooing”, which is still popular today.