Tattoos Past and Present
Tattoos Past and Present
Debra Nehring
Eng/101
9/15/11
Kimberly Stanley
Tattoos Past and Present
Some people may have tattoos and others may find them ugly or despise them but one
thing is true, tattoos are a part of the past and understanding where they came from can give us a
greater appreciation for them today. The Egyptians, the Japanese, the Chinese, and more all have
elaborate art histories whether it is buried in the pyramids, the temples, the sculptures, or caves
but how has our history books in school forgotten to mention the important history hidden in
tattoos? Tattoos have many meanings, and they are different all over the world and there past
leads directly to the present and if history repeats itself it may even tell us something about our
future. In this essay creating a timeline to conclusively draw a line through history too
today and understand the many traditions our culture still possesses. Tattoos are a
common part of our life because of recent discoveries we can give tattoos a past that leads to the
present.
Iceman 3200 B.C. Tattoos are part of our life but we forget that they are not new, in fact tattoos have been
around longer than we can significantly date. According to Lineberry, (n.d) the ”oldest man to
this date found is believed to have lived 5,200 years ago and possessed about 57 tattoos all over
his body in dot like formations, scientists believe because of the placement of the tattoos that
they were most likely to have been used for therapeutic purposes.” This information provides
evidence that tattoos date back to at least this time maybe much longer but this does provide
science with a starting point. It can be assumed the because of the placement that tattoos were
socially accepted as a form of healing. Dating anything back thousands of years has a high degree
of error because when carbon date anything Condender ministries states, “ the rate
Debra Nehring
Eng/101
9/15/11
Kimberly Stanley
Tattoos Past and Present
Some people may have tattoos and others may find them ugly or despise them but one
thing is true, tattoos are a part of the past and understanding where they came from can give us a
greater appreciation for them today. The Egyptians, the Japanese, the Chinese, and more all have
elaborate art histories whether it is buried in the pyramids, the temples, the sculptures, or caves
but how has our history books in school forgotten to mention the important history hidden in
tattoos? Tattoos have many meanings, and they are different all over the world and there past
leads directly to the present and if history repeats itself it may even tell us something about our
future. In this essay creating a timeline to conclusively draw a line through history too
today and understand the many traditions our culture still possesses. Tattoos are a
common part of our life because of recent discoveries we can give tattoos a past that leads to the
present.
Iceman 3200 B.C. Tattoos are part of our life but we forget that they are not new, in fact tattoos have been
around longer than we can significantly date. According to Lineberry, (n.d) the ”oldest man to
this date found is believed to have lived 5,200 years ago and possessed about 57 tattoos all over
his body in dot like formations, scientists believe because of the placement of the tattoos that
they were most likely to have been used for therapeutic purposes.” This information provides
evidence that tattoos date back to at least this time maybe much longer but this does provide
science with a starting point. It can be assumed the because of the placement that tattoos were
socially accepted as a form of healing. Dating anything back thousands of years has a high degree
of error because when carbon date anything Condender ministries states, “ the rate
References: College Crunch. (2011). Retrieved October 12, 2011 from http://www.collegecrunch.org/feature/15-surprising-stats-about-tattoos/ Contender Ministries (n.d.)The Problems With Carbon-14 dating. Retrieved October 10, 2011 from http://contenderministries.org/evolution/carbon14.php Deitz, L. (2011). History of Tattooing Methods. Retrieved October 12, 2011 from http://www.ehow.com/about_4884845_history-tattooing-methods.html Designboom. (2000-2010). A brief history of tattoos Retrieved from http: //www.designboom.com/history/tattoo_history.html Japanese Tattoo. (n.d.).History of Japanese tattoos Retrieved October14, 2011 from http://japanese-tattoo.net/history-of-japanese-tattoos/ Lineberry, C. (2007, January). Tattoos: The ancient and mysterious history. Smithsonian, (), . Retrieved September 21, 2011 from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history- archaeology/tattoo.html?c=y&page=1 Rohrer, F. (n.d.). So why do 'normal ' people get tattoos?. Retrieved October 12, 2011 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7034500.stm The Vanishing Tattoo (2011). Philippines. Retrieved October 10, 2011 from http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/philippines.htm Yeow, D. (2011). Associated content. Retrieved October 12, 2011 from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/26530/philippine_tribal_tattoos.html?cat=16