The History of Tattoos

There are some people who may feel that tattoos have only been around for a few decades. This would largely be due to the fact that this form of body art has continued to grow in popularity during this time.

In actual fact, Tattoos have a history that can be traced back over literally thousands of years. Frozen cave men and mummified Egyptian pharaohs have been found adorned with tattooed skin.

The very first tattoos are believed to have originated in the South Pacific region and they were adopted into Western societies many thousands of years ago. Due to the vast distances between the parts of the world where this practice has been discovered, it is thought that tattooing was incorporated into different cultures independently; they were not copied from others.

The more modern practices of tattooing were brought to our shores through sailors who ventured to the South Pacific islands and came back proudly sporting their ink. Since that time, tattoos have experienced a tumultuous relationship within our society.

There has always been a large section of the population that have been extremely narrow-minded toward this form of self-expression. Indeed, tattooing has been banned in many western societies.

Today though, tattoos are more accepted than ever; especially in the UK and Scandinavia. The USA, Australia and some southern European countries still have quite a long way to go in order to realise a modernisation in their thinking on the subject, but the signs are there that this is certainly underway.