A Quick History Of Tribal Patterns For Tattoos
History
The general history of tattoos goes back just about as long as the history of mankind. The most famous historical find in reference to tattoos is Otzi the Iceman, dated circa 3000 BCE. Otzi the Iceman was found bearing 57 tattoos. There have also been tattooed mummies found in west China dating around 1000 BCE. Tattooing in Japan, however, is thought to go back nearly ten thousands years, into the Paleolithic era. Tattoos found on Otzi and the mummies include animals, crosses, straight lines, monsters and series of dots. Thus the history of tribal patterns for tattoos is long and storied.
Etymology
The term tattoo comes from the Samoan word tatau, simply meaning to mark or strike twice. Literally it means to strike twice with the hand with color. The first known use of the word in English was found in a diary of Captain James Cook in 1769. In recounting his voyage to the Marquesas Islands he notes that the people print signs on their bodies and call it tattaw. It is commonly thought that the sailors on the voyage introduced the term tattaw and later the practice to Europe.
Practice
The practice of tribal buy Dutas online tattooing, whether it be Maori tribal tattoos or chest tribal tattoos, is thought to go back much further than the evidence now shows. The evidence only goes back as far as we have found actual bodies with preserved skin on them. This limits the evidence to ice men or mummies, which we know to be ancient but we have not found them as far back as the evidence we have for the existence of humans.
It is thought that early tattooing may have included the rubbing of cuts or wounds with ashes and hand-pricking the skin to insert dyes extracted from various plants and herbs. The wounds may or may not have been inflicted on purpose while the hand-pricking was most likely done with sharpened sticks or animal bones.
The most common practice was to use tribal patterns for tattoos to decorate individuals or to mark a rite of passage. They were also used to mark status or rank as well as symbols of spiritual devotion and function. Tattoos were also used to mark people as outcasts of society or as slaves or convicts.
The practice exists today in much of the same vein. People get tattoos to set themselves apart, or to mark an important even in their lives, to commemorate the death of a loved one or to show religious or spiritual devotion. They are also still used to mark possession, such as slaves, and membership into a certain community, such as gangs and fraternities.
In short, the history of tribal patterns for tattoos goes back as long as there have been humans on this planet. It has been used for many different purposes, several of which survive today. Tribal tattoos are therefore really nothing new at all, yet at the same time, they are an element of society that is ever changing and refreshing.
Tags: butterfly tattoos, chest tribal tattoos, cross tattoos, foot tattoos, gemini tattoos, libra tattoo, lower back tattoos, Maori tribal tattoos, pisces tattoos, star tattoos, Tattoo, Tattoo Designs, tattoo gallery, Tattoos, Tribal patterns for tattoos
