Tattoos in Ancient Europe: An Historical Look, via Archaeology

Tattoos today are a widespread phenomenon all over the world. The popularity of tattooing in today's modern culture has caused many people to be interested in the history and origins of this world wide custom. The general consensus has been that the practice is non-European and arrived following the voyages of discovery after Europeans made contact with tattooed people elsewhere - especially in Polynesia. This perspective, however, ignores the less well known evidence for tattoo in ancient Europe. This evidence for tattooing in ancient Europe, prior to written records from the Greeks and the Romans is scarce and open to differing interpretations. Tattoos do not lend themselves very well to preservation in the material record. Nevertheless, there is some archaeological evidence that tattooing did take place as early as the Paleolithic.

The earliest evidence that could possibly indicate tattooing in the archaeological record of Europe comes from Chatelperron, France. Where "bowls with traces of black and red pigments and sharpened flint instruments were discovered in the Grotte des Fees (Fairy Grotto)," (van Dinter 2005:24) as well as in caves in Scandinavia and Portugal dating back about 12,000 years ago. These could have been used as ancient tattooing tools although there is no proof that they were used as such. Prehistoric images of people with lines on their faces and bodies could represent people with tattoos and these tattoos would have to have been applied somehow. Clay Cucuteni figures found in the Romanian Danube area date back all the way to 5000 BC and show traces of tattoos (van Dinter 2005:24-25).

The earliest known conclusive evidence for tattooing among the prehistoric peoples of Europe comes from Otzi, the Iceman, who is believed to have lived some 5300 years ago in the Neolithic. His body, found high in the mountains along the Austro-Italian border, was so well preserved that scientists were able to discern his tattoos and speculate about their purpose with some confidence. The Iceman sported over 50 different tattoos of streaks, crosses and other small lines "concentrated on the areas of the lumbar spine, the knee and ankle joints, i.e. on those parts of the body which were under strain when he was alive" (South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology 2001). Since these areas are normally covered by clothing, it is assumed that these particular tattoos did not signify status. Analysis of these areas of the mummy's body revealed that the tattoos were applied to joints that showed signs of rheumatism and arthritis leading researchers to conclude that the tattoos had a therapeutic function and were applied to relieve pain. "Anthropologists believe a traditional healer made incisions in Otzi's skin on the afflicted areas, placing medicinal herbs in the wound, which were burned with the point of a heated metal instrument. The charred residue was incorporated in the resulting scar" (van Dinter 2005:26). Unfortunately, Otzi is a one of a kind find and there is no way to know whether tattooing had any other functions in this time period or how widespread the practice of medicinal tattooing was at the time. Other evidence from the Neolithic is scarce and it isn't until several thousand years later that there is more conclusive data that points to indigenous tattooing in Europe.

Recently, excavations at Tarim Basin (West China, Xinjiang) "revealed several tattooed mummies of a Western (Western Asian/European) physical type. Still relatively unknown (the only current publications in Western languages are those of J P. Mallory and V H. Mair, The Tarim Mummies, London, 2000), some of them could date from the end of the 2nd millennium BC" (2006 Tattoo History) Unfortunately, this evidence is still relatively inaccessible but it does raise some questions about the practice of tattooing and cultural exchange between Europe and Asia. Were these mummies part of some European culture who settled in what is now China and brought their indigenous tattoos with them? Or did they first encounter tattooing in the East? More work needs to be done on the site in order to even begin to answer these questions.

It is known from written Greek sources that many of the Eastern European and Central Asian tribes of the Scythian-Siberian culture such as the Dacians, Thracians, Illyrians and Pazyryk tattooed themselves. Archaeological evidence suggests that these tattoos marked high status and were only given to certain individuals. These cultures developed around the art of horse riding which allowed them unprecedented military advantages and allowed them to overrun neighboring tribes and rule large swaths of land stretching from Central Asia to the Eastern Balkans. It is also believed that it allowed them to have much wider contacts throughout Asia. "Archaeological discoveries confirm that the Pazyryk had contact with the Chinese and the Persians" (van Dinter 2005:28). In 1993, mummified bodies dating from about 2500 years ago were discovered in burial mounds in the Pazyryk valley in the High Altai Mountains of western and southern Siberia. Among them were two warriors, a male and a female, who were intricately and beautifully tattooed. Their well preserved skins show a variety of fantastical and stylized animal motifs that resemble the motifs incorporated into their jewelry, utensils, felt-work and those found in their tombs. The tattoos cover their arms, legs and shoulders and are so refined and sophisticated that "only recently could their quality be equaled in Europe" (van Dinter 2005:28). There are representations of tigers, deer, snakes, mountain goats, sheep and fish as well as mythical creatures. Analysis of the depth of the tattoos suggests that the technique used to create them was the skin pricking technique as opposed to the sewing-in technique used by Siberian tribes and the Inuit. This might indicate that this particular tattoo culture was more influenced by indigenous Southeast Asian tattooing such as that done in Burma. The quality of the tattoos rivals that found in Burma at the time and the representation of real and mythical animals is also a common feature of traditional Burmese tattoo. If these tattoo cultures are related, then we can also guess at the possible purpose of these warrior tattoos. In Southeast Asia, tattoos were considered magical and were applied for protection and good fortune while hunting and fishing, the same might be true of these Pazyryk tattoos (van Dinter 2005:25-29). "No instruments specifically designed for tattooing were found, but the Pazyryks had extremely fine needles with which they did miniature embroidery, and these were undoubtedly used for tattooing" (2006 Tattoo History). The fact that tattoos were only found on two of the warriors in the burial mound suggests that they were indicators of a special status in that society and were probably given only to important individuals. The fact that both the male and the female mummy were tattooed and buried as warriors suggests that tattooing was more strongly tied to status and role than gender.

According to Herodotus, the Scythians also tattooed themselves and it is most likely that the wide ranging contacts they were able to have across the continent is what spread the practice and art of tattooing from Asia into Eastern Europe as they encountered different tribes who were eager to copy the highly stylized and beautiful tattoos of the Scythian warriors. Tribes more firmly rooted in Europe, like the Thracians of Eastern Europe, the Agathyrsi of what is now Transylvania or the Dacians and Illyrians of the Balkan region, were also known to tattoo themselves. Depictions on Thracian vases from around 500 BC show tattooed women. The Greek historian Athenaeus provides one possibility for the origins of tattooing among the Thracians. He writes that the Scythians invaded Thrace and humiliated local women by marking their bodies with blue dots. After the Scythians left, these women covered their shameful markings with decorative designs. This would suggest therefore, that the Scythians were responsible for introducing tattooing and for spurring the development of a local tattoo culture in Thrace. The shared deer motif also points to some definite relationship between Thracian tattoo and Pazyryk tattoo. A Thracian vase exhibited in the Louvre in Paris from the 5^th century BC depicts a woman with deer tattoos that resemble those of the Pazyryk warrior mummies showing definite links between the tattoo styles of these two groups of people (van Dinter 2005:30).

During the periods of Greek and Roman domination of Europe, indigenous European decorative tattooing, which was considered a barbaric practice (barbarians being those who did not speak Greek, and later Latin), gradually diminished and according to some scholars, simply died out. The tattoo was instead put to another use; for the marking of slaves, criminals and soldiers either as punishment or for administrative purposes. Much of the negative Western attitudes about the practice of tattooing, as well as many of the traditional Western tattoo clichés stem from these uses. Convict tattoos, military tattoos and devotional tattoos in addition to the tradition of tattoo removal all have their European origins with the Greeks and Romans.

Punitive tattooing was introduced to the Greeks by the Persians who, in 512 BC, invaded Thrace and marked their "slaves, convicts and prisoners of war by tattooing letters on their foreheads" (van Dinter 2005:31). The Greeks then began to mark their slaves with forehead tattoos and there are multiple references to the practice in Greek literature. Slaves were tattooed with letters such as 'F.H.E' for 'Fugitivus Hic Est,' meaning "This one has (once) escaped" (van Dinter 2005:31). C.P. Jones writes that the Greeks used the word "stigma" for tattoo. The word's original meaning referred to the markings of a snake but it soon came to signify a mark of shame, a meaning that endures today (Jones 2000:1).

Romans used tattoos as a means of control to identify soldiers, gladiators, prisoners and slaves. From the fourth century BC all Roman recruits were tattooed with embalms of their units on the left forearms and their date of enlistment on their right wrists. This allowed soldiers from different units to be distinguished from one another as well as strengthening the bonds between the men within the units. Tattoos were also used as punishment to humiliate offenders and forever brand them. A punitive tattoo was essentially a life sentence (Gustafson 2000:18-20). After embracing Christianity at around 313 AD, Emperor Constantine (r. 306-37 AD) forbade the tattooing of faces as he believed that the face was created in the image of God and should not be mutilated. From that point on, prisoners and gladiators were marked on their calves or hands. In the Byzantine Empire, punitive tattoos were used well into the late ninth century. Documents reveal that Emperor Theophilus (r. 829-42) "punished two monks by having twelve lines of obscene verse tattooed on their foreheads" (van Dinter 2005:32). Although Roman tattoos were mainly punitive and administrative, devotees of some religious cults in the pre-Christian era would be tattooed with ivy on their chests to in order to signify their devotion to the goddess of fertility, Cybele and Attis, the god of growth and vegetation.

During the Greek and Roman eras for the first time in recorded history, tattoos were used as state sanctioned punishment, not decoration. Therefore, this era also saw the first attempts to remove stigmatizing marks in a tradition that continues today with the advent of laser tattoo removal. Greek and Roman literature is rife with tattoo removal potions and remedies although many were highly dangerous and often deadly. Their existence in the record shows that there was a real and often desperate need for tattoo removal.

With the expansion of the Roman Empire in the first century BC, Romans came into contact with a variety of Northern European, Germanic and Celtic tribes whose body art and tattoo traditions were significantly different from their own. These tribes may have inherited the tattoo practices from the earlier Eastern European tribes such as the Scythians or the Agathyrsi or their tattooing may have been invented independently of these influences. Upon invading what is today southern Great Britain, Julius Caesar wrote that the native people color their bodies blue for battle. Van Dinter writes that "based on this story, the nineteenth-century Irish historian William Betham had concluded that the name Britannia was derived from the ancient Celtic word meaning 'land of the painted people'" (van Dinter 2005:32).

Two sources specifically mention tattoo-like body markings among the British tribes as observed by the Romans. The first comes from Herodian who was writing at the end of the second century and describes a practice that more resembles branding than tattooing among a group of people he calls the 'Caledonians' but it is generally assumed that he meant the Picts. The Picts were a tribe that invaded the Roman province of Britannia from the north together with the Scots. The word originates from 'Priteni,' a Celtic word meaning 'people of the signs,' probably also referring to body painting or tattoos (MacQuarrie 2000:35). Herodian wrote that "They 'draw figures of animals or symbols on their skin by pressing hot iron onto their limbs, causing great pain, and over this they rub the sap of a plant'. The sap of the woad plant created the blue colour." (van Dinter 2005:33-36). Van Dinter points out that Herodian never visited the British Isles and that his reports are second and third hand and that the application of the plant sap may have just been to ease the pain of branding. (van Dinter 2005:33) The Roman poet Claudian recounts the defeat of the Scots and the Picts in a poem written in 402 AD. He describes the Picts as having "crude images cut with iron" on their bodies.

Around 600 AD, the Spanish Bishop Isidore of Seville wrote that the Picts derived their name from their practice of "decorating their bodies by rubbing the sap of local plants into pricked designs." (van Dinter 2005:36) The word "Picts" is believed to be derived from the Latin pictus meaning "painted." Isidore wrote that it was the Pict warrior elite that distinguished themselves from the rest of the population by their vivid, colorful tattoos and that the Scots also tattooed themselves. Tattooing is thought to have been widespread among the elites of the Celtic, Gaullic and Germanic populations of Europe but information is scarce. In the early 10th century, Ahmad ibn Fadlan wrote of his encounter with the Scandinavian Rus' tribe, "describing them as tattooed from 'fingernails to neck' with dark blue 'tree patterns' and other 'figures'" (2006 Tattoo History) so the practice must have gone back much farther in history.

These cultural traditions of decorative tattooing were for the most part stamped out with the arrival of Christianity. Religious tattooing, in contrast, was exempt from this ban. "Religious tattoos will bring spiritual rewards, but other (i.e., heathen and decorative) tattoos defile God's creation," wrote one missionary who had been sent to Britannia by Pope Hadrian I (van Dinter 2005:36).

The Picts disappeared from the British Isles after numerous defeats by the Vikings and an almost complete annihilation by the Scots and took their tattoo traditions with them. Except for tiny surviving tattoo subcultures, the disappearance of the Picts and their decorative tattooing tradition marked the end of indigenous European tattoo culture. Almost 500 years pass before tattooing is even mentioned in European literature again (van Dinter 2005:33-37).

The European history of tattooing is revealed through archaeological finds and supplemented, especially in later times, by written sources from the Greeks and the Romans. All of this evidence must be considered in order to gain a holistic perspective on how ancient Europeans used the custom of tattooing. It my very well be that the first European to be decoratively tattooed learned the practice from people further East and introduced the tradition to Europe. Or the custom may have grown from much more ancient therapeutic tattoos and been entirely indigenous. Whatever its ultimate origins on the continent, tattoos and tattooing have existed in Europe far longer than is generally known.

References Cited

2006. Tattoo History. Crystalinks. Accessed November 26, 2006.

Gustafson, Mark

2000. The Tattoo in the Later Roman Empire and Beyond. In Written on the Body: The Tattoo in European and American History. Jane Caplan, ed. Pp. 17-31. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Jones, C. P.

2000. Stigma and Tattoo.

In Written on the Body: The Tattoo in European and American History. Jane Caplan, ed. Pp. 1-16. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

MacQuarrie, Charles W.

2000. Insular Celtic Tattooing: History, Myth and Metaphor. In Written on the Body: The Tattoo in European and American History. Jane Caplan, ed. Pp. 32-45. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology

2001. The Iceman. South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology Website. Accessed November 20, 2006.

van Dinter, Maarten Hesselt

2005. The World of Tattoo. Amsterdam: KIT Publishers.