Tattooing and body piercing are probably as old as
the human civilization. Tattooing and body piercing have been practiced
by many cultures for centuries. The discovery of a 4,000 year old
tattooed man in a glacier on the Austrian borders proves the long
history of tattooing and body art. Each culture had its own connotation
of tattooing. Here is important to note that Egyptians identified
tattooing with fertility and nobility. In Japan people used tattooing
for ornamental, cosmetic and religious purposes as well as for
identification and punishment of criminals. In the Polynesian islands,
tattooing (both men and women) was a common feature.
Tattooing came to be associated with the upper classes in the
nineteenth century Europe. Just like tattooing, body piercing has been
practiced in different cultures for centuries. Body piercing, along with
tattooing was often identified with royalty and portrayed valor and
virility. Naval piercing in Egyptian Pharaohs was observed as a rite of
passage. Another interesting example is of Roman soldiers, who pierced
their nipples to show their manhood. In the Maya civilization, people
pierced their tongues as a spiritual rite. Nipple and genital piercing
in both man and women was common in Victorian royalty. All this goes to
show the both tattooing and body piercing have been practiced by man for
thousands of years.
