The word tattoo comes from the Tahitian "tatu" which means, "to mark something". Finding information about Tahitian tattooing I found difficult. The little knowledge of Tahitian tattooing in pre-contact times is quite limited. There are only a dozen or so descriptions of the art and even fewer illustrations. The art of tattooing has been around for centuries. As far as we know, the history of tattooing starts in ancient Egypt and the most well preserved examples are ancient Egyptian mummies. There is no word for tattooing found in ancient Egyptian, but lines of text have been found referring to tattooing as "inscribing" which can also be translated as "etched" or "engraved."

I found another part of history that I found interesting, which is about an Iceman named “Ötzi”. In 1992, at the very border of Austria and Italy, high up in the Alp Mountains, the body of a man was found, and as they realized that he was more than 5000 years

Tattooing was a primitive practice that had died out in Europe as Christian civilization advanced, but had survived elsewhere in the 'uncivilized' world. Roman and Greek culture did not see tattoos in a positive light. In those times tattoos were associated with Barbarians. Do to this the Greeks and Romans practiced tattoo removal. There primary technique was to chemically burn off the tattoo. Greeks and Romans also used tattooing as a punishment in which they would mark marked criminals and slaves. This practice is still carried on today.

Tattoos in the Chinese History a tattoo is called "Wen Shen" or "Ci Shen" in Chinese. The term means literally "puncture the body". Tattooing has been known and practiced in China for many years. But it was never considered to be something artistic, desirable, or even acceptable. A commonly held notion is that one's body is a precious gift from the parent and therefore should never be abused or defaced by a tattoo.

While tattooing diminished in the west, it thrived in Japan. At first, tattoos were used to mark criminals. First offenses were marked with a line across the forehead. Adding an arch marked a second crime. A third offense was marked by another line. Together these marks formed the Japanese character for "dog". It appears this was the original "Three strikes your out" law. In time, the Japanese escalated the tattoo to an aesthetic art form. The Japanese body suit originated around 1700 as a reaction to strict laws concerning conspicuous consumption. Only royalty were allowed to wear ornate clothing. As a result of this, the middle class adorned themselves with elaborate full body tattoos. A highly tattooed person wearing only a loincloth was considered well dressed, but only in the privacy of his or her own home.

Some topics in this essay:
II Sailors, Native Americans, , Shen Chinese, London Soon, China Tattooing, Alp Mountains, Native American, Samuel O'Reilly, Henna Indian, body tattoos, tattoo artists, holy land, body art, native americans, tattooed people, body modification tattooing, tahitian tattooing, tattooing found, art tattooing, history tattoo,