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Images of the Christogram tattoo on the dorsal (top) side of the right foot. Picture was taken with a full spectrum camera and digital enhanced using ImageJ software with a DStretch plugin. Source: Kari A. Guilbault/PCMA UW

Medieval Christogram Tattoo Found in Sudan Reveals Deep Christianity

Nubia, the region that consists of modern-day Egypt and Sudan, has yielded a rather surprising find – a Christogram tattoo has been unearthed on the body of a person dating back 1,300 years. This...
Inuit women with tattoos. Source: YouTube Screenshot / Great Big Story.

Ancient Ink Reborn: Revitalizing Traditional Inuit Tattooing (Video)

In a harmonious blend of identity and strength, Marjorie Taub breathes life back into the ancient art of Inuit tattooing. With practiced skill, she employs two techniques that date back thousands of...
Thai Tattoo Master makes Sak Yant tattoo. Source: Denis / Adobe Stock.

Sak Yant: Foreigners Drawn to Ancient Thai Tattoo Masters (Video)

The ancient art of 'sak yant,' traditional Thai tattoos , has long been cherished by locals for its spiritual significance. In recent times, however, an increasing number of foreigners are drawn to...
Oldest tattoo shop, Israel. Source: Djampa / GNU Free Documentation License.

The Oldest Tattoo Shop in the World (Video)

Meet Waseem Razzouk, the guardian of an extraordinary heritage that spans an astonishing 27 generations. Nestled within his family's humble tattoo shop, a tradition dating back an astounding 700...

Six Amazing Ancient Tattoo Discoveries

Getting inked has been around longer than you’d think. While the idea of tattooing certainly seems like it would’ve been a more recent development, archaeologists have discovered quite the opposite...
A branding iron, representational image. Source: By ines / Adobe Stock

Evidence Emerges that Ancient Egyptians Used Branding Irons on Human Slaves

It has long been known from carvings and tomb paintings that the ancient Egyptians used branding irons to mark their cattle. Now a new study presents evidence that they also used branding stamps on...
Tattoo on the left femur of a mummified Egyptian woman buried at Deir el-Medina. Source: Anne Austin/University of Missouri-St. Louis

Not A Tramp Stamp: Thigh and Hip Tattoos Found on Female Egyptian Mummies

Ancient burial sites in Egypt have yielded tattooed mummies, that are predominantly female rather than male. Over time, various debates have arisen about who these mummies were, in terms of their...
Nicole Wilson had Ötzi the Iceman’s tattoos replicated on her body. Source: TJ Proechel / Nicole Wilson. Inset: Two tattooed bands can be seen around Ötzi the Iceman’s wrist. (South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology)

Artist Recreates Tattoos of Ötzi the Iceman in Her Own Blood

In an unusual performance, even by today’s standards of contemporary, process-driven art, artist Nicole Wilson has been replicating on her own body and in her own blood the tattoos discovered on the...
A new CT scan of the Tashtyk death mask has uncovered the face of the ancient Tashtyk man, revealing he had a scar on his face from a wound stitched up after his death. Source: ©The State Hermitage Museum / The Siberian Times

Tashtyk Death Mask Scan Reveals Evidence of Prehistoric Surgery

The surgically enhanced face and skull of an ancient tattooed Tashtyk man, hidden behind a stirring gypsum death mask for 1,700 years, has been 3D-visualized for the first time. Discovered wearing a...
A tattooed skull in one of the newly unearthed Moche burials. Source: CEN/Proyecto Especial Naylamp Lambayeque

Bizarre Moche Burials Include Mutilation and Skull Tattoos

Eleven 1000-year-old graves containing skeletons from the Moche civilization have been found in Peru. Some have been mutilated with their feet removed and tattoos imprinted on their skulls. Two...
Egyptian mummies with tattoo of Archangel Michael

Scans Reveal Archangel Michael Tattoo on Mummy's Thigh

In 2014, a team of scientists in London carried out high-tech scanning on eight Egyptian mummies from the British Museum, uncovering fascinating information about them, including the revelation that...
Modern representation of a Viking with a tattoo.

Were Norsemen Tattooed? Evidence of Ink on the Rugged Rusiyyah

Did the Norsemen of Scandinavia have tattoos? Did runic script adorn their arms as they sailed their longships down fjords? While material remains offer few clues, one piece of historical evidence...
https://www.ancient-origins.net/users/ed-whelan

Ancient Tattoo Tool Rewrites the History of Native American Ink

A Ph.D. student has made an astonishing discovery - the earliest known Native American tattoo artifact. It is estimated that it is 2000-years-old and came from the very important Basket-maker II...
A Maori Warrior

The Maori: A Rich and Cherished Culture at the World’s Edge

New Zealand was one of the last landmasses to be colonized by humans. When Pleistocene megafauna had gone extinct elsewhere in the world, New Zealand was still inhabited by the moas, giant flightless...
The tattoo tool bundle unearthed at Fernvale, Tennessee, USA. This is the oldest tattoo toolkit discovered to date.

Turkey Bones, Shells, and Pigment: Signs of the Oldest Tattoo Kit in the World

About 3,600 years ago, someone decided to bury a collection of sharpened turkey bones and mussel shells. The items were unearthed in 1985 and then forgotten for almost three decades. However, a...
A cross-shaped tattoo on Ötzi's knee.

Acupuncture for the Iceman: Did Ötzi Get Inked for Health?

Ötzi the iceman was discovered in the Oetz Valley, Austria, in 1991 by some German tourists. When this 5,300-year-old mummy was first found it was believed the frozen corpse belonged to a soldier who...
“The Painted Ones” hand-colored version of Theodor de Bry’s engraving of a Pict woman who is either painted or tattooed.

Power, Perils and Rites of Passage – The History of the Female Tattoo

Emily Poelina-Hunter / The Conversation Almost a quarter of Australian women now have tattoos - a trend some attribute to the influence of feminism. What I find interesting is that the mainstreaming...
Tattooed Owners of the World's Oldest Carpets Get Health Check After 2,200 Years

Tattooed Owners of the World's Oldest Carpets Get Health Check After 2,200 Years

By The Siberian Times reporter A mummified potentate and his wife were found in a burial mound 42 metres in diameter. They went to the next life alongside nine saddled and harnessed geldings. Now,...
Locals in Thailand Village Claim Black Magic Tattoos Helped Preserve the Skin of a Corpse

Locals in Thailand Village Claim Black Magic Tattoos Helped Preserve the Skin of a Corpse

A group of cemetery workers clearing a graveyard in Thailand near the Laos border were shocked to excavate the corpse of a man whose skin had been preserved , as if by magic. In fact, some people...
Mummy of the Ukok Princess/Siberian Ice Maiden. Tattoos line her arms.

Ancient Ink: Mummies and Their Amazing Tattoos

Tattoos have played a role in the lives of prehistoric and modern man alike. Societal status, art, religion, and medicine all create a tradition in tattoo design that spans across centuries and...
Women of Rennell Island in the Solomons, drawn by Norman H. Hardy

Ancient Tattoos: Archaeologists find Blood and Pigments on 3,000-Year-Old Obsidian

Australian archaeologists have examined prehistoric obsidian tools from the Nanngu site in the Solomon Islands and have determined they may have been used for tattooing people. The 3,000-year-old...
Goddess Council 4900-4750 BC Neolithic Culture of Cucuteni-Tripolye exposed in Cucuteni Museum of Piatra Neamt

Ancient Ink: How Tattoos Can Reveal Hidden Stories of Past Cultures

The English word tattoo is commonly said to be derived from the Polynesian word tatau or tatu . This Polynesian word means ‘to mark something’. Additionally, this word is an onomatopoeia, and is...
A Māori warrior.

Mokomokai: Preservation of the Tattooed Maori Heads of New Zealand

Mokomokai are preserved heads that are produced by the Māoris of New Zealand. These are not just any heads, but heads that have been decorated by moko. Moko is a traditional art form practiced by the...
Ancient Tattoos of the Pazyryk Nomads

The Stunning Ancient Tattoos of the Pazyryk Nomads

Archaeologists made a stunning discovery in Russia when they uncovered mummies bearing intricate tattoos on their bodies. The mummified remains belong to members of the Pazyryk tribe. Originating in...

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