Whats the origin of tattoos and body art?
A young fellow, Spoogy206, asks for the lowdown on tattoos and body art. Although I appear to be doing his homework, the subject is as compelling as a train wreck. Thus, I am willing to comply with his desperate request. It appears that tattoos and body decoration significantly predate heavy beer-drinking and riding hogs. The Encyclopaedia Brittanica indicates that tattoos have been found on Egyptian and Nubian mummies dating from about 2000 BC. They are referred to in ancient writings relating to, among others, the Thracians, Greeks, Gauls, ancient Germans and ancient Britons; Romans used tattoos to mark criminals and slaves. After the advent of Christianity, tattooing was forbidden in Europe, but persisted in the Middle East and other parts of the world. Joyce Cabrini, at her website http://www.chelsea-art.com/tattoo.htm, describes the origin of this practice with a passion and detail that doesn’t deserve paraphrase. She relates: The origins of tattooing as an art form are to be foun
