Wednesday, June 27, 2012

The beginning of tattoos




  •  Early origins of tattooing
  •  How tribal tattoos influenced the Western world
  •  The development of modern tattooing
  • What is happening today with tattooing

Tattooing is probably one of the few professions that has
been around longer than prostitution. Tattooing has had
the same amount of persecution, if not more. Evidence of
tattoo implements has been found in Europe, and dates
back between 10,000 and 30,000 B.C.E. If your parents or
grandparents want to give you grief for getting a tattoo,
you can remind them that further back in the family tree,
by a few thousand years, your ancestors were most likely
getting tattooed by the campfire. That probably won’t dissuade
them, but at least you tried.

This chapter talks about the origins of tattooing. You will see how
the designs of today are based on what tribes have done in the
past. You will learn how tattooing developed into what it is today
so that when you are ready for your tattoo, it will mean something
more than just a permanent sticker would.


The Polynesian Islands are located in the South Pacific. They
stretch from Hawaii to Easter Island to New Zealand. The tattooing
in Polynesia is considered the most beautiful and mastered of
ancient tattooing. The people of the Polynesian Islands are known
for having large tattoos, often covering their faces. Unfortunately,
due to western globalization in the nineteenth century, tattooing
was banned on many islands. This led to the loss of many tattooing
traditions and designs.
The Marquesian Islands lie 1,200 miles west of Peru. The ancient
Marquesians developed an ornate style of tattooing that can cover
most of the body. The designs are geometric patterns and images,
which fit well to the body.


Borneo
Borneo is the third-largest island in the world after Greenland
and New Guinea. It is perhaps because of its size that Borneo has
been left mostly untouched by the Western world. The inland
tribes who have little or no contact with the outside world have
had their traditional way of life preserved. Many of their tattoo
designs are hundreds of years old and are still tattooed today.
Maori
The Maori are the native people of New Zealand. The Maori are
famous for the Moko, a facial tattoo. This beautiful tattoo is a
representation of its wearer. The Moko portrays the individual’s
social status and is, in a sense, the wearer’s signature. These tattoos
are “carved” into the face of the wearer, leaving a ridge-like scar. A good example of the Moko can be seen in the film Once
Were Warriors, directed by Lee Tamahori.



 Hawai
The traditional tattooing in Hawaii is called “Kakau.” Not only
were tattoos for decorating the body, but they were also used for
physical and spiritual protection. The designs also portrayed an
individual’s social status.
Samoan
Tatau is the Samoan word for tattoo. The word tatau is actually
the origin of the western word tattoo. The Samoan tattoo is very
important in portraying social class. It is a very elaborate affair
when the son of a chief is tattooed. The Samoan tattoo usually
covers the lower torso down to the knee, like a pair of shorts. The
process of getting this tattoo would usually begin at the start of
puberty, marking the beginning of adulthood.

 Africa
Most of African-body modification relies on scarification. Scarification
is purposefully creating a scar in the skin for decoration.
Ancient Egypt, however, had its own form of tattooing. Egyptologists
have found written records dealing with tattoos and works
of art seemingly decorated with
tattoos. A female body from the XI
Dynasty was found in 1891 bearing
many lines and dashes, which formed
abstract geometric patterns. These
tattoos were probably used for certain
religious rituals.
America
Tattooing was an important cultural part of the tribes of the
Americas. As with the Polynesian tribes, tattooing among
American tribes came to represent social status as well as marks
of victory over an enemy. Tattooing was also used in the ritual of
beginning adulthood. Unfortunately, most of the indigenous societies
were destroyed and their traditions banned and lost.
Some examples of traditional tattooing found in North America are:
􀁕 The Iroquois were tattooed to show social status. The larger
and more ornate the tattoo, the higher the status an individual
had.
􀁕 The Haida of the northwest were tattooed with designs that
represented family heritage. These designs were of animals,
similar to the popular totem-pole designs.
􀁕 The women of the Inuit people in the northwest had their
chins tattooed to represent their marital status.
Much of the evidence of tattooing in South America is found in
the writings of the conquistadors, the Spanish explorers, between
the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Spanish had never
seen tattooing before and, being devout Catholics, considered it

the work of the devil. The Spanish thought it was bad enough
that the natives worshipped “demonic” statues, but were disgusted
when they saw the natives had managed to print these images on
their bodies.
In Mayan society, the wealthy were elaborately tattooed to show
their social status. A good example of this can be seen in Mel
Gibson’s Apocolypto. Unfortunately, the conquistadors destroyed
much of the indigenous culture of South and Central America.

Japane
Japanese tattooing has had an enormous influence on modern
tattooing. Sailors would come back from Japan with intricate
dragons and other Japanese designs. Western tattooists copied
these designs or had the designs tattooed on them when they were
in the Navy. It can be said that the old western style of tattooing
came together with Japanese tattooing to create the modern tattoo
design.
Many western tattooists specialize in Japanese-style tattooing.
Some western tattooists have even learned the traditional “hand
poke” technique of Japanese tattooing.
Ainu
The Ainu are a tribal group of people who live mainly on the
island of Hokkaido, the second-largest island located in northern
Japan. The Ainu have inhabited Japan for over ten thousand years

and many have integrated into modern Japanese society. The Ainu
woman would have their arms, mouths, and sometimes their foreheads
tattooed. This would usually occur at the start of puberty.


Criminal
In the seventh century, the rulers of Japan came to adopt their
attitude toward tattooing from the Chinese. Tattooing was considered
barbaric and only used as a form of punishment.
In 720 C.E., an emperor sentenced a
man to be tattooed as a worse form
of punishment than to be put to
death. The Japanese had perfected a
system of tattoo markings for criminals
to show their crime. This put
the criminals in the lowest social
class and ostracized the criminal
from his or her friends and family.
By the end of the seventeenth century, decorative tattooing began
to become popular again. Penal tattoos were then covered up with
other designs. This is perhaps the start of tattoos in Japan being
fully connected with organized crime. At the same time that tattooing
was becoming popular, tattooing as a punishment started
to be replaced with other forms of punishment.
Japanese print as ifluence
By the eighteenth century, tattooing started to draw influence
from wood-block prints of images called “ukiyoe,” or “pictures
of the floating world.” One of the most famous and influential
ukiyoe artists was Kuniyoshi (1798–1861).
Kuniyoshi illustrated one of the most popular stories of the time,
the Suikoden. The Suikoden originated in China and is a story
of 108 outlaws who defied the corrupt rulers of China. Many of
them were tattooed. These characters were very popular for over
a century, and the illustrations of the tattooed warriors are still a
major influence on tattooing today.





Some of the original clients of Japanese tattooists were firefighters.
They would bare their tattoos as a sign of courage while battling
fires. The yakuza, or Japanese
mafia, kept the tradition of
tattooing as well. To this day,
many bodysuits in Japan are on
yakuza.




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