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 derived from the sound that was made by the tools that were used during the process of tattooing. Although this word only entered the English (and other European languages) when the inhabitants of Polynesia were encountered several hundred years ago, tattoos have existed for a much longer period of time, and can be found in many ancient cultures.

Ötzi’s Tattoos

At present, the earliest known tattoos can be found on the body of the naturally preserved mummy commonly known as ‘Ötzi the Iceman’. This frozen mummy was discovered in the area of the Italian-Austrian border in 1991, and is believed to be around 5,200 years old.

There are about 57 tattoos of various sorts on the mummy, including dots, small crosses, and straight lines. The distribution of these tattoos seems to be random at first glance. For instance, there are some dots and crosses on his lower spine, several straight lines above the kidneys, and a number of parallel lines on the ankles of the mummy.

A cross-shaped tattoo on Otzi's knee. Radiolab [Right] Researchers take a sample from the Iceman's hip in 2014. (Credit: Samadelli Marco/EURAC)