Tattoos: Geography Of Tattoos

The word 'tattoo' came from the Polynesian word ta which means to strike something and the second part is from the Tahitian word 'tatau' which means to mark something.

Otzi

The very first tattoo was found on the frozen remains of a man who would of been alive in 3300 BC. He was from the bronze age and his body was found on the mountain border between Italy and Austria in 1991. Scientists named him Otzi. He had 61 tattoos on his body. The bottom of his back, ankles, knees, and his foot were marked with many different small lines, this was done by rubbing charcoal into vertical cuts on his body, not by using needles. Scientists did x-rays and saw that there was bone degeneration where each tattoo was on Otzi's body, this made researchers believe that Otzi and his people used tattoos as a treatment to help reduce pain or disease. The tattoos were not done to symbolise anything but were done for medical reasons. The reason that Otzi stayed preserved was because snow fell shortly after his death and then formed into ice. This is the only way how predators did not eat him or he did not decompose. From examining his body scientists could tell that Otzi was an 45 year old man when he died, he was1.6m tall and he weighed 50kg.