In prehistoric times, tattooing was prevalent in many
lands. Tattooing has been a Eurasian practice since Neolithic times. "Ötzi
the Iceman", dated circa 3300 BC, exhibits therapeutic tattoo
(small parallel dashes along lumbar and on the legs). In the Steppes,
other natural mummies up to 7000 years old have been found to have
tattoos. The Tarim Basin (West China, Xingjian Province) revealed
several tattooed mummies of a European physical type.
Three tattooed mummies (c. 300 BC) were extracted from the permafrost
of Altai Mountains in second half of the 20th century (the Man of
Payzyrk, during the forties; one female mummy and one male in Ukok
plateau, during the nineties). Their tattooing involves animal designs
repertory carried out in a curvilinear style. The Man of Pazyryk was
also tattooed with therapeutic dots lined up along the spinal column
(lumbar region) and around the right ankle.
