Just where do tattoos come from and who had the first ones? Tattoos appear on all sorts of people all over the world. Even Egyptian mummies have been found to have them. Many island tribes and Amazon Indian tribes incorporate tribal tattoos into their culture. Here, they are not just for individual expression, but have a greater meaning in putting each individual in place within their group, or even having a protective or religious purpose. The Smithsonian Institute has a great article online about the history of tattoos.

It has also been said that tattoos, dating even back to an arctic preservation over 5,000 years old, and also on pregnant Egyptian women, were a distraction or relief from pain. In various cultures, tattoos were used as a mark of notability, or even for marking specific groups of the culture, such as members of a cult or even slaves. There have been such diverse uses of tattoos throughout the world. They have held a variety of purposes, those often being somewhat different from the modern-day bikers with skull tattoos. When you look at the history though, it is clear that the tattoo crowd isn’t inventing anything new. Tattoos have been around for thousands of years.

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