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History Of Tattoos - Quick Overview
It seems that today tattoos are more popular than ever before. More than one third of Americans aged between 25 and 39 has tattoos. There are more than 20,000 tattoo parlors operating in the United States. Yep, tattooing is hot, but it's certainly not a new thing. So lets take a quick peek at the history of tattooing.
Tattooing has been around since at least Neolithic times. The oldest known tattoo was found on a 5,300-year-old mummy discovered on an Alpine glacier in 1991. Otzi the Iceman, as is the nickname of the mummy, had 57 tattoos running along his back, left knee and ankles. Otzi is the first known tattooed human.
Tattooed mummies have been found throughout the world. One of the most famous is the ancient Egyptian mummy of Amunet, a priestess of goddess Hathor - the goddess of joy, love and motherhood. Amunet lived around 2160-1994 BC.
Ancient Egypt is commonly considered as the cradle of tattoo art and from there it spread throughout the ancient world - to Roman, Greek, Persian, Chinese and Japanese regions. Tattoos were and remain especially important to Polynesian culture.
To pacific cultures tattooing has always had a huge significance. Polynesian tattooing had evolved over thousands of years and is considered the most complex and skillful of the ancient world. European explorers often brought home tattooed Polynesians who were then exhibited at fairs and lecture halls. Tattooing soon became popular in Europe.
The word tattoo is believed to originate from the Tahitian word "tatau" which means "to mark something". Captain Cook was the first westerner to describe the art of tattooing with the word tatau. After his encounter with Polynesians in 1768 he mentioned it in his journal.
Explorers of the eighteenth century probably never imagined how quickly will tattoos spread. At the end of the 18th century they were already widely spread among sailors. Today, in the 21st century, they're preferred form of body art for people of all ages, sizes and lifestyles.
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