Worldwide Extent Custom

• Tattooing is an ancient custom distributed around the world
• Evidence of tattooing in Egypt before 1300 B.C.
• Tattooing found in burial remains in Siberia dating from 300 B.C.
• Julius Caesar reported that the natives of Britain were tattooed in 54 B.C.
• The most complex decorations were made on the Marquesas islands in Polynesia
• The word "tattoo" comes from the Tahitian tatu
• Men's tattoo devices indicated maturity and entitlement to marry
• Both men and women were tattooed, especially those of high social status
• In Iran, people were tattooed for beautification, curing sickness, or protection against the evil eye
• In some parts of Africa, Australia, and New Guinea, where skin is too dark for contrast, permanent patterning is achieved through artificially raised scars or keloids
• These marks are used for clan or tribal identification
• They are a feature of certain types of initiation and are considered to enhance beauty
• In the modern Western world, merchant seamen, armed forces, and sideshow attractions at fairs and circuses have experimented with tattooing
• Tattoos were forced on oppressed or incarcerated people, such as inmates in Nazi concentration camps
• Tattoo decoration and body piercing became more popular in late-twentieth-century American and European society
• Popular among young adults, street and motorcycle gang members, rock musicians, and popular entertainers
• Temporary tattoos became increasingly popular, resembling real tattoos but easily applied with water and lasting for days