The Art and Archeology of Tattoo

These, and other related materials, are extremely poignant in helping us understand the history and archaeology of tattoos, however, our best evidence has come from actual bodies preserved through extraordinary circumstances. 

Processes of preservation are typically not kind to human bodies; more often than not, archaeologists recover little more than the bones of the deceased in their final resting place. Much of this has to do with both how a body is buried and where. In the ancient world, coffins, sarcophagi, and other elaborate tombs that could protect human remains were the burial habits of those with enough wealth to afford them. Even cremation during certain periods was often considered an ostentatious funerary rite as the amount of wood required to burn a human body completely was too expensive for the average person. Thus, many burials in the ancient world were inhumations in the ground accompanied by whatever goods those burying the deceased chose to place with the body.

While these burial practices may have been the most economically or socially feasible for peoples of the past, they certainly are not typically conducive to the preservation of biological materials which break down and decompose in the presence of oxygen and bacteria.

Thus, when we do discover bodies preserved with skin and other organic components intact, they tend to come from either circumstances that denote wealth and status (e.g. Egyptian mummies) or from areas and regions that invite anoxic or anaerobic (i.e. oxygen-less) preservation. Dry climates such as deserts, extreme cold and ice, and swampy bogs have provided us with some of the most stunning examples of human preservation with many of these bodies also sporting evidence for the world’s earliest tattoos. 

Egyptian mummies are perhaps the most famous examples of how both burial rites and climate can induce excellent preservation of the human body, including hair and skin. Though tattoos on Egyptian mummies can be difficult to locate due to how the embalming process affects the skin of the deceased, in 2019 it was revealed through infra-red photography that seven 3,000-year-old female mummies excavated from Deir el-Medina all bore tattoos of varying shapes, sizes, and locations. One body, in particular, had 30 examples alone. Current research by Anne Austin at Stanford University posits that the tattoos may have played a part in these women’s lives as possible religious figures, perhaps priestesses, or even in work as healers as many of the tattoo designs are connected to images of protection.

Even older are the tattoos on a man who died in the Italian-Austrian Alps around 3250 BCE. Dubbed Ötzi by his excavators, this mummy was preserved in the oxygen-free ice sheets of an Alpine glacier after his death. Between the extreme cold and the lack of oxygen, Ötzi’s skin was preserved completely intact with 61 tattoos scattered across his body including on his wrists, legs, back, and torso. 

Research on Ötzi has provided us with incredibly valuable information about how Copper Age peoples in this part of Europe lived, but his tattoos added even more unique evidence about the medicinal practices of his time. Analyses of Ötzi’s bones showed that he suffered from joint and spinal degeneration and would have likely experienced significant arthritic pain. Not only did he carry plants and herbs targeted for pain relief, but many of his tattoos – mostly lines and dots – were strategically placed over his joints and the base of his spine suggesting that they were inscribed as a means to further assist with pain relief and healing.

Other cases are known to have indicated the social status of the tattooed individual. The famous so-called Ice Maiden of Siberia is one such example. This young woman aged about 25 was buried in the ice-cold Ukok Plateau approximately 2,500 years ago. When archaeologists discovered her and began to thaw out her burial, they found that her body was covered in wonderfully elaborate pictorial tattoos of mythological creatures. Considering the wealth of her burial which included six horses and clothes of imported Chinese silks, scholars have assumed that she held a position of importance perhaps as a religious figure, healer, or a member of the local nobility.

Countless more examples of tattooed bodies or depictions of tattooed individuals are known to us through the archaeological record, and certainly, more will continue to be discovered over time. But what has already been made thoroughly clear is that the art of tattooing has deep roots in human history. Whether used to indicate the social status or identity of the bearer or as a means to aid in medicinal healing, tattoos are an enigmatic practice of artistic and cultural expression that can continue to teach us about our collective past in surprising and beautiful ways.