Alexis Harris Exemplification Essay October 26, 2012 Tattoos Tattoos have been around for thousands of years and are as diverse as the people who wear them. Tattooing varies from place to place and has represented status, religion and even punishment. The word tattoo is said to have two major derivations, the Polynesian words “ta” meaning: “striking something” and the Tahitian word “tatu” which means to “mark something”. The first known tattoos were believed to have been created by accident. Evidence from Ancient Egypt, Greenland, Siberia and New Zealand show how global the art of tattoo is.
However, body piercing and tattooing have been around for centuries. According to Welch (2001), “Tattooing and body piercing are time honored traditions in cultures throughout the world.” These two forms of body art prove the fact that history repeats itself. As far back as biblical days, body piercing and tattooing were practiced among different cultures and in different geographical regions. “Early Christians used tattoos as symbols of recognition until 787 AD, when tattoos were banned by papal edict. Captain Cook is credited with bringing this tradition to western culture following his Tahitian expedition in 1771.
Following Captain Cook Charles Darwin has been doing a closer study of Marine life (he was also known for the Theory of Evolution). Darwin went on the HMS Beagle. He went on in 1831 he spent five years collecting and studying sea life (he came back in 1836). All of Darwin’s marine organisms that he found when he was on the HMS Beagle have been sent to a British Museum for cataloguing. When Darwin was on the HMS Beagle it helped him make theories of natural selection and evolution.
The Samoan, Maori, Borneo, African, North American Aboriginal cultures are just a few that have used the tattoo as a way to tell a story of Transition into maturity. Before there was writing with words to identify a person, we used pictures. Many of the cultures used the tattoo to tell the status of an individual in society. The Maori of New Zealand used Tattooing starting at puberty, accompanied by many rites and rituals. In addition to making a warrior attractive to women, the tattoo practice marked both rites of passage and important events in a person's life.
I. To show how tattoos’ were used other than as art on your body, lets go in depth as to how they were also important in the community and among other tribes. A. Tattooing has been a Eurasian practice since Neolithic times “Otzi the Iceman”, dated circa 3300 BC, bore 57 separate tattoo’s ranging from possible therapeutic tattoos, which we will go a little more in depth about later on, to religious tattoos which we will also go in more detail about later on. The history of tattoos. (2010).
Tattoos and piercings date back to early man. According to Etyonline, an online etymology dictionary, the word tattoo is derived from the Tahitian and Samoan word tatau and the Marquesan tatu, both of which mean puncture, mark made on the skin. The oldest recorded tattoos are believed to be from about 3300 B.C. They were found on the body of the Iceman found in the Otzal Alps in 1991. Professor Konrad Spindler of the Innsbruck University theorized that the Iceman’s 57 tattoos were probably done with charcoal and were possibly done for ornamental, magical, or maybe even social status.
The Picts were supposedly tattooed (or scarified) with elaborate dark blue woad (or possibly copper for the blue tone) designs, though only Julius Caesar described these tattoos in Book V of his Gallic Wars (54 BCE). Tattooing for spiritual and decorative purposes in Japan is thought to extend back to at least the Jōmon or Paleolithic period (approximately 10,000 BCE) and was widespread during various periods for both the Japanese and the native Ainu. Chinese visitors observed and remarked on the tattoos in Japan (300 BCE); this just shows that tattoos have their own meaning in each culture and
Body A. Throughout ancient time, graffiti has been a means of communication. 1. According to the PBS production, “The History of Graffiti,” the very first people to use graffiti were the cave men. (PowerPoint) They drew pictures of animals, family members, and events that happened.
This form of artwork has survived for thousands of years, and over those years tools used to make this artwork have evolved. This art form is called tattooing; tools used to create these tattoos have had many different names and many different tools. Tattooing has been around since the earliest civilizations; including the Japanese and the Polynesian, but the art was refined by the Western method. The discovery of the Iceman in 1991 date tattoos back to about 5,200 years ago. The Iceman was recovered from an area of the Italian-Austrian border.
Probably one of the most well known examples is The Iceman, “Oetzi”. According to the Tattoo Museum (vanishingtattoo.com, n.a), Oetzi was found in a glacier near Austria and Italy in 1991. Scientists estimate Oetzi is from around the time 3300 B.C. Oetzi had 57 tattoos most of which were focused around his lower back and ankles. It is a widely believed theory that these tattoos were, in fact, an ancient type of acupuncture since the tattoos are mainly located around the areas that would treat problems like osteoarthritis and digestive problems he would have dealt with.