Body Piercings & Tattoos
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Brief history of Tattoos
The word tattoo is said to has two major derivations- from
the polynesian word ‘ta’ which means striking something
and the tahitian word ‘tatau’ which means ‘to mark something’.
The history of tattoo began over 5000 years ago and is as
diverse as the people who wear them.
Tattoos are created by inserting colored materials beneath
the skins surface. The first tattoos probably were created
by accident. Someone had a small wound, and rubbed it
with a hand that was dirty with soot and ashes from the fire.
once the wound had healed, they saw that a mark stayed
permanently.
Despite the social sciences' growing fascination with tattooing,
and the immense popularity of tattoos themselves,
the practice has not left much of a historical record.
Brief history of Piercings
Body modification is certainly unique to humans and, in one form or another, has been practised for as long as 30,000 years by our species' earliest ancestors.
Early Origins of Body Piercing
Aboriginal Australians practised penile sub-incision and elongating of the labia. The pre-Egyptian, Nubian civilisation elongated their skulls and used a simple technique to make tattoos. Later, ancient Egyptians practised ear piercing while ancient South American cultures, like the Mayans and Aztecs, ritually pierced their tongues for blood offerings.
Native North American tribes, and the Inuit of what is now Canada, used lip piercings and wore bone jewellery, which has now been reinvented as the labret stud. They also used ear piercing as a status symbol, where even the act of piercing the ear was a celebrated ritual that was undertaken at great cost to the piercee; so showing how wealthy the piercee was.
The peoples of the pacific islands have practised the piercing of ears, noses, genitals and lobe stretching for generations. The men of Borneo, for example, would pierce the Ampallang, as did the men in the early history of the Filipino people, while the women of Borneo (and central Africa) practised piercing and stretching of the labia in an effort to attract a suitable husband.
Credits:
History of Tattoos
History of Piercings
