Let's talk about tattoo's!!

Barnet burns, the tattooed Pakeha-Maori Tader.

It is commonly stated, in works by academics and tattoo enthusiasts alike, that modern western tattooing originates in Polynesia. With the exploratory voyages of Captain James Cook who was an English navigator and possibly the greatest explorer of the 18th century, he is known for his voyages of the pacific ocean and his encounters with tribal tattooing. Similarly  it was through the early explorations of the Pacific that tattooing entered into modern European consciousness. In tandem with these observations, it is often noted that 'tattoo' and associated words in the European languages drive from the Tahitian 'tatau', an onomatopoeic term meaning to strike,mark or tattoo.

Tahiti man 

Traditionally, tattooing in Tahiti has always been a privilege of the more eminent social classes. Social ranking allowed tattoos corresponding to the wearer's position in the community under the supervision of the Ari'i.

Men often had tattoos all over their body, including on the neck and ears. Only the face was left untattooed except for the occasional warrior or priest who might wear a special emblem on his forehead or lips.

Tattoos for the men fall into four categories; those belonging to the social class of gods, priests and Ari'i, which were hereditary and restricted to their descendants; tattoos of the Hui Ari'i class, Arioi'i, exclusively for chiefs (male and female); tattoos of the Hui To'a, Hui Ra'atira, Ia To'ai class, reserved for leaders of war parties, warriors, and so on; and Menehune class tattoos, for individual with no pedigree or an unremarkable family history. 

A BRIEF HISTORY  OF TATTOOS 

the history of tattoo began over 5000 years ago and is as
diverse as the people who wear them.

tattoos are created by inserting colored materials beneath
the skins surface. the first tattoos probably were created
by accident. someone had a small wound, and rubbed it
with a hand that was dirty with soot and ashes from the fire.
once the wound had healed, they saw that a mark stayed
permanently.

despite the social sciences' growing fascination with tattooing,
and the immense popularity of tattoos themselves,
the practice has not left much of a historical record.

Gottfried Lindauer, Ana Rupene and her Daughter , 1878, oil on canvas

J. Storer, An Inhabitant of the island of Nukahiva, 1804, engraving from Georg Heinrich von Langsdorff

Anonymous portrait of John Rutherford from an original drawing taken in 1828

maori man with a distinctive moko of new zealand,
william hodges, 1771, drawn during james cook's second voyage

Iceman tattoos

bronze age
in 1991, a five thousand year old tattooed man ‘ötzi the ice man’
made the headlines of newspapers all over the world when
his frozen body was discovered on a mountain between
austria and italy.
this is the best preserved corpse of that period ever found.
the skin bears 57 tattoos: a cross on the inside of the left knee,
six straight lines 15 centimeters long above the kidneys and
numerous parallel lines on the ankles.
the position of the tattoo marks suggests that they were probably                              
applied for therapeutic reasons (treatment of arthritis).

Pazyryk mummy

pazyryk culture
in 1948, 120 miles north of the border between russia and
china, russian archeologist sergei rudenko began excavating
a group of tombs, or kurgans, in the high altai mountains of
western and southern siberia. mummies were found that date
from around 2400 years ago.
the tattoos on their bodies represent a variety of animals.
the griffins and monsters are thought to have a magical
significance but some elements are believed to be purely
decorative. altogether the tattoos are believed to reflect the
status of the individual.

Egyptain woman 

 egypt
written records, physical remains, and works of art relevant to
egyptian tattoo have virtually been ignored by earlier egyptologists
influenced by prevailing social attitudes toward the medium.
today however, we know that there have been bodies recovered
dating to as early XI dynasty exhibiting the art form of tattoo.
in 1891, archaeologists discovered the mummified remains
of amunet, a priestess of the goddess hathor, at thebes who
lived some time between 2160 BC and 1994 BC.
this female mummy displayed several lines and dots tattooed
about her body - grouping dots and/or dashes were aligned into
abstract geometric patterns. this art form was restricted
to women only, and usually these women were associated
with ritualistic practice.
the egyptians spread the practice of tattooing throughout the world.
the pyramid-building third and fourth dynasties of egypt
developed international nations with crete, greece, persia,
and arabia. by 2,000 BC the art of tattooing had stretched out all the
way to southeast asia .
the ainu (western asian nomads) then brought it with them
as they moved to japan.

japan
the earliest evidence of tattooing in japan is found in the form
of clay figurines which have faces painted or engraved to
represent tattoo marks. the oldest figurines of this kind have
been recovered from tombs dated 3,000 BC or older, and many
other such figurines have been found in tombs dating from the
second and third millennia BC.
these figurines served as stand-ins for living individuals who
symbolically accompanied the dead on their journey into the
unknown, and it is believed that the tattoo marks had religious
or magical significance.
the first written record of japanese tattooing is found in a
chinese dynastic history compiled in 297 AD.
the japanese were interested in the art mostly for its decorative
attributes, as opposed to magical ones. the horis - the japanese
tattoo artists - were the undisputed masters. their use of colors,
perspective, and imaginative designs gave the practice a whole
new angle. the classic japanese tattoo, is a full body suit.

Japenese full body sui

Ragijin the god of Thunder and Lighting 

Fujin the god of wind.

Two tattoos depicting the red-skinned Kintaro.

young children in japan painted with mock tattoos.

Preserved human skin with a tattoo of Kaosho Rochishin who himself is tattooed with cherry blossoms.

A mounted human skin in Tokyo university's medical faculty.

Information gathered from

Book:A History of Japanese body suit tattooing by Mark Poysden & Marco Bratt

Book:Tattoo by Nicholas Thomas,Anna cole and Bronwen Douglas

Website: http://www.designboom.com/history/tattoo_history.html

Website: http://www.celticnz.co.nz/Bes%20&%20Thor/Bes&Taranis.htm