The bodymodification of tattooing has been one of the most popular forms of
self expression for hundreds of years. In fact the art of tattooing
has been around since the times of ancient Egypt where it has been
discovered that tattooing was a form of body art.
In Europe and Asia
tattooing as a body modification has been practiced for centuries.
Although tattooing did disappear for a time in Europe because of its
links to Pagan practices but tattoo’s remained popular in Asia
especially as an identifier for tribal reasons. Tattoo’s returned
to Europe when the sailors who accompanied Captain Cook to Asia in
the 1700’s noticed that the Polynesians used the body markings.
Upon their return the popularity of tattoo’s started to spread
across Western Europe again and in fact sailors were often associated
with tattoos.
Tattoo’s mean
different things to different cultures, in the Western world they are
seen as merely decorative, although some people still have tattoo’s
that mean something to them that identifies them as belonging to a
certain religion etc. It is not uncommon
for men in particular to sport a tattoo that shows their allegiance
to a particular sports team or player.
In other parts of
the world however the tattoo can mean something quite different, it
can denote status, religion or it may be worn for protection from
evil spirits. In some cultures tattoos are used to signify a child’s
coming of age to mark them out as an adult.
Tattoo’s can be
used for more sinister reasons however and it was not uncommon for
convicts and a slave to be marked with tattoo’s to signify their
lowly or criminal status. The most recent example of this comes from
as recently in history as the Second World War where holocaust
victims were identified by their tattoo markings. Thankfully this
system is no longer practiced in civilized society.
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