American Navy Tattoos

The history of tattooing date back to the first man, Otzi, in 3300 B.C. who was found frozen in the Alps (Nat-A-Tat2) and the history piercing date back to different primitive tribes for their beliefs (Tribu). Scientists say that the tattoos he had were for medical reasons. When they found his body, they took X-rays and where there were tattoos was where his bones had started to decay. His tattoos were on his back, knees, ankles, and feet. The ink used on his tattoos was made of powdered charcoal and rubbing it into his cut skin. Many ancient civilizations did tattoos and piercings for example the Egyptians, Greeks, Japanese, Arabian and Siberians. Many mummies have been found with tattoos and are the oldest bodies to be found with gauged or stretched earlobes (Tibu). The Egyptians were also the ones who brought tattooing to Greece and to Arabia (Nat-A-Tat2). In Japan, tattoos were used for beauty, beliefs “and to mark criminals” (Nat-A-Tat2).

The Puritans would have, quite frankly, been aghast at this. In fact, the Puritans were quite forthcoming

Tattoos were given to distinguish rank a person's rank as well as to protect their health and spiritual well-being according to PBS. Traditional Hawaiian tattoos are very intricate, precise, symmetrical, and always involving a pattern and shapes of some sorts. Men would mostly receive tattoos on their arms, legs, torso, and face while women would have it placed on their hands, fingers, and tongue. I say “receive” because it was the kahuna that decided what kind of tattoo a person were to have and when. The

My senior project was over the History of Tattooing, I chose this as my topic because Tattoos really interest me with all the different styles and meanings behind them. Some things I already knew about Tattooing is a lot of tribes used tattoos to symbolize things, but I didn’t know what.

When everyone looks and acts remotely the same, people end up losing their individual identity. When people feel like they are losing their individuality, they try to find ways to redefine their uniqueness in society. One of the more efficient and permanent ways of self-identification is by giving yourself a tattoo. Tiffany Cross studied this ideal of self-identification in her article, Stigmatization or Decoration: Tattoo as Deviance, a Cross-Cultural Study, where she says that, “the tattoo historically has been that symbol of rebellion, and here we see the tattoo emerging as a symbol of values and beliefs anew. The individual establishes his or her independence because the tattoo as a symbol is still enough to visually separate oneself from society at large” (Cross 20). Most of the time, tattoos are very meaningful, and hold some sort of value for the person who has them. By having a meaningful design constantly a part of you, people have essentially rediscovered themselves. Tattoos can also act as symbols of memories or influential experiences for a person. They are a constant reminder of an event that someone wants to feel and reminisce in every day of their lives. Tattoos can definitely have a large underlying meaning for the people who get

The Oceanic tribes viewed a person as a blend of “life forces, physical substances, and ritual knowledge” that came from multiple sources and were constantly changing. Since they viewed a person as such, they would do ritual tattooing. This was meant to harden the body and be part of the admittance into adulthood. Then one would go through severe pain to have extensive tattooing done to have a rite of passage into ritual empowerment. Some Oceanic tribes would tattoo the whole body, such as the Marquesas, while others would only tattoo the buttocks and thighs. In Figure 11.24, Tomika Te Mutu of Coromandel, shows the nineteenth century Maori Chief covered in facial tattoos. The Maori’s would use a chisel to create such tattoos. Facial tattoos

The story we know goes back to the Stone Age. In 1991, one hunter man was found in a glacier from the Neolithic era; his back and knees tattooed. Before the hunter mummy, the oldest person with tattoo that was discovered was the Egyptian priestess, Amunet worshiper of Hathor, goddess of love and fertility. She lived in Thebes around 2000 BC, and her tattoos, were pretty much the same style as the mummy of the hunter, linear with simple designs of dots and dashes. In the prehistoric cave of Aurignac small pointed bones were found and were believed to be use for tattooing at that time.

Tattoos were once and still are in some places considered heathen (uncultured, unsophisticated) behavior. As far back as ancient China tattoos were used as a symbol of protection or as an identifier, but they were not for the common working class. In traditional tribes of the native americans they signified an outsider that had earned the respect and trust of the tribe. Native Hawaiians and in extension the traditional Polynesians, used tattoos on their warriors to demonstrate power and skill; one of the most accomplished warriors in their history, half of his face and most his body was tattooed black as a form of war paint and high warrior status. Throughout history, dependent on the type of tattoo, it would either serve as an identifier of madhood, slavehood, or ranking.

Tattooing is a body modification practice used for centuries across the globe. Because of the multiple origins of tattoos, there are several techniques and countless styles. Every tattoo is unique in meaning to the person that receives it, though often they can fit into generalized categories. Tattoos have fallen in and out of popularity over the course of history, though they have never and most likely will never disappear.

Throughout history tattooing has served many purposes. The earliest evidence of tattooing was found in 1991 in the mountains of Austria. An Iceman was found, his bones dated back to 3,300 B.C. which is over 5300 years ago. His skin had signs of blue tattoos. The scientists did not understand the reasons for his tattoos, but counted fifty-eight in total. (Wiman-Rudzinski, 2002)

The renaissance of tattoo in modern and post-modern society owes its resurrection to Captain James Cook and the crew aboard the HM Bark Endeavour who brought back accounts of tattooed peoples, examples of tattoos upon their skin, and the Samoan word, tatau to Great Britain after their voyage to Tahiti and New Zealand.

“ When other soldiers would see these permanent marks, it would show the soldier was taught and able to handle any tough obstacle they had to face as a soldier. They would understand the pain, suffering, anguish, determination, commitment, and will to overcome any circumstance, in an identifying tattoo.” ( Stephanie Geeten ) As a soldier you need loyalty and need to to be able to trust your fellow troops. The most common reason, for getting tattoos as a military personnel is to show their pride in helping their country.

The tattoo is a very old form of body modification, but in spite of that there is still a certain rejection towards those who carry them in a visible area of the body, for some it disfigures what has been created in the image and likeness of God while for others associates this with convicts or gang members mainly because they were one of the first groups to use tattoos to differentiate themselves from the rest of society. But also it is true that there is a very limited understanding about this corporal modification that could be one of the reasons why it can not be appreciated as for how it should be. However, modern society reflects the current popularity of tattooing because it has acquired an entirely artistic meaning to a social expression and a way of identity.

Tattoos have been around throughout our history, from Egyptian times to the present day. Many people may say they know the history of tattoos, and where they originate from, but do they really? Does one know that there were reasons that some people had tattoos? There may be people who know the actual history of tattoos and body art and why one would decide to get one; however there are people who do not. To be able to understand the idea of tattoos, one should educate themselves to the history of tattoos. Although tattoos have been considered taboo and a stereotype, history reveals that this particular form of body art has been used for self expression, status and

In order to fully understand this significance, one must first understand what a tattoo actually is. Dictionary.com states that a tattoo is “the act or practice of marking the skin with indelible patterns, pictures, legends, etc., by making punctures in it and inserting pigments” (2016). Knowing this definition allows people to understand that tattooing is considered an art--even by the dictionary’s definition. When people