Tattoos have existed since ancient times in civilisations all over the world, with different purposes, from our ancestors in the New Stone Age, to the tattoos of Polynesia, where the word originated from.

New Stone Age tattoos

Tattoos go back to the Neolithic and can be seen on the body of Ötzi (also known as the Iceman) where there are up to sixty-one marks. These tattoos, which are over 5000 years old, would have been made by rubbing coal into incisions in the skin. Their purpose is a mystery.

A connection with the divine

In ancient Egypt tattoos were more frequent among women and an example of this is the mummy from Deir el-Medina, which is over 3000 years old. She has all kinds of tattoos, with a series of symbols resembling cows (associated with Hathor) or the eye of Horus (magic symbol of protection).

Tattoos for social branding

The origin of the word tattoo comes from the Samoan word tatau. In Polynesia tattooing was customary from a very early age, covering the body completely as the child grew up.  Tattoos were a mark of social status within the tribe.

Propagation of tattoos

Interestingly, Captain Cook and his sailors introduced the rite to the West by bringing the custom from Polynesia. Something similar happened after the expeditions of Columbus to America, which helped this kind of body art to spread. Also the tattoo machine was invented in America, several centuries later. It was during the American Civil War that Samuel O'Reilly discovered that the electric pen invented by Edison could be modified to inject ink into the skin.