There was a time in history when having a tattoo was equivalent to living in exile. Throughout the history of tattoos, they weren’t used to express a person’s personality or unique stories. For most of history, people would force others to get tattoos as a way to indicate their places in the world.
Now, times have changed. Tattoos are trendy ways for people to express their unique perspectives on the world, and to express how they see themselves. For the first time, tattoos have become an art form. People are free to decorate their bodies however they see fit, and mostly without judgment.
Getting inked has a long and complex history behind it, and before you get your first tattoo, you should know the history behind them. That way, you’ll be able to appreciate what it means to decorate yourself at a deeper level. Learning about the history of tattoos may even spark inspiration for what you want to get!
So, keep reading below to get a glimpse into the long story behind tattoos’ roles in society, and how they impacted the modern world!
The History of Tattoos Is Long, But Not Colorful
The earliest artifact we have of tattoos comes from Otzi the Iceman, who perished in the Oztal Alps sometime between 3370 BCE and 3100 BCE. Since he died in such a frigid environment, his body was well-preserved and gave historians a glimpse into what early society was like. It helps that the tattoos were exclusively black.
One of the major clues to what early civilization was like was found on Ozti’s skin. He was adorned with 61 tattoos throughout his body, but most were found on his legs. And based on the locations of the tattoos, examiners found that the tattoos most likely served a medical purpose.
They believe that there were ancient rituals which involved using ash as a way to paint tattoos onto a person. Based on the location of the tattoos, historians believe Otzi may have suffered some kind of sickness in his joints or muscles. The pressure applied by tribal medicine-people may have helped alleviate his pain.
Yet, there are also hundreds of other theories explaining why Ozti had his tattoos. All that could be said for certain is that even in the earliest days of civilization, people were getting tattoos.
People Are Canvasses for the World
People have always had a need to express themselves in complex and intricate ways. The earliest cave paintings can be thought of as ways for early man to express the first sparks of his relationship with the world. Tattoos are no different.
It doesn’t matter if they were used to persecute classes of people or if they were a part of complex, tribal medical practice. Encoded in tattoos are messages about what life was like at the time they were painted on another person’s skin. They tell a story about how that person related to the world around them.
And they still do that, in a vague kind of way. When you get a tattoo, you’re still saying something about yourself and the kind of person you want to be, and most of all, how you see the world around you.
Tattoos Marked Criminals in Ancient Cultures
In ancient Greece and Rome, tattoos evolved beyond being part of ritualistic medical practices. Tattoos began to be used to mark criminals and lower classes that society had isolated. Anyone with a tattoo was a social pariah since it meant that they couldn’t be trusted by the rest of society.
And western civilizations weren’t the only ones to adopt tattoos as ways to identify and condemn criminals. Several Asian cultures used tattoos as ways to exclude people from mainstream society. Most of these tattoos were placed on a person’s head, although they could be used on any part of a person’s body.
While people who had tattoos could still enter cities and walk around like anyone else, they were loners for the most part. They were barred from the higher stations those societies had to offer and had to essentially sell themselves into slavehood to survive.
Later, tattoos would become a way to identify slaves. Even as Europe moved away from slavery-based systems, the United States continued to use tattoos to mark slaves. Although, the particular cruelty of the American slave system meant slaves would be branded as well as tattooed.
Tattoos Turned Away From Crime, Into Entertainment
Later, after slavery was abolished in the United States, tattoos found a new purpose. They began to appear on carnies and on members of circuses. These tattoos were frequently extravagant and artistic — they were crafted with care.
People would travel out of their homes to see women with ink coursing across their skin. It was particularly scandalous for women to have tattoos at the time, compared to men. Since it was such a shocking sight at the time, circuses would place tattooed women as ringside attractions to make more money as they traveled across the country.
During this time, tattoos found new meaning. They were still artistic expressions for society’s outcasts, but they no longer signified criminality or slavehood. Instead, if you had a tattoo, you just weren’t a part of the mainstream. It just meant you had an interesting story to tell about how you got it.
Modern Tattoos Serve Several Purposes
Now, tattoos are about self-expression. Anyone can get a tattoo and won’t say anything about their class or their standing in society. In fact, society has embraced tattoos so much that the science behind them has exploded.
Now, temporary tattoos are available from online retailers for people who want to try one out before committing to it. And even if you commit to getting a real tattoo and regret it later, it can be removed.
Getting a tattoo says that you own your own body and that you’re the only one who can say what you should do with it. Tattoos give you the opportunity to express yourself in ways you otherwise couldn’t. And if you ask any tattoo artist, it’s addictingly fun to get them!
Want to Stay Trendy? Get a Tattoo
Tattoos have entered the mainstream, and they are here to stay. Throughout the history of tattoos, they have served to exclude people or to identify them with certain groups. They played all sorts of roles in people’s lives, from a form of medicine to a kind of expression.
And now, they’re trendy. Having a tattoo communicates a sense of power over oneself, and that’s all fashion is meant to do. And to learn more about modern fashion and how to be stylish, keep reading here! We are always updated with the latest in fashion trends so you can stay ahead and keep looking great!
