Tattoos have been around for thousands of years. However, not many people know where the tattooing art comes from. What it meant to have one back then. What signifance it brought to an individual. As you read on you will know where tattoos originated. What they stood for. Why people back then had them and what has made tattooing what it is today.
Tattoos first starting evolving around 12,000 B.C. The purpose of tattooing has varies from culture to culture. But there are commonalties that prevail form the earliest known tattoos to those being done on college students on Telegraph Ave. in Berkeley, California. “The word tattoo is said to has two major derivations- from the polynesian word ‘ta’ which means striking something and the tahitian word ‘tatau’ which means ‘to mark something” (powerverbs.com).
Tattoos have been around and about for thousands of years. However, do the indivuals who have tattoos now have them for the same specific reason as the people in the past? Or is it just a popular trend that everyone is doing these days? The Greeks used tattooing for communication among spies. Markings identified the spies and showed their rank. Romans marked criminals and slaves. This practice is still carried on today. The Ainu people of western Asia used tattooing to show social status. Girls coming of age were marked to announce their place in society, as were the married women. The Ainu are noted for introducing tattoos to Japan where it developed into a religious and ceremonial rite. In Borneo, women were the tattooists. It was a cultural tradition. They produced designs indicating the owners station in life and the tribe he belonged to. Kayan women had delicate arm tattoos which looked like lacy gloves. Dayak warriors who had "taken a head" had tattoos on their hands. The tattoos garnered respect and assured the owners status for life. Polynesians developed tattoos to mark tribal communities, families, and rank. They brought their art to New Zealand...