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You’ve seen a lot of tribes and their different tattooing rituals. Is there anything constant amongst the tribes and in their respective rituals?

There are many motivational factors that compel tribal peoples to receive tattoos. For some, tattooing is a kind of medicinal therapy; a form of adornment; a marker of status; a form of magical protection; or an aid that enhances fertility and virility. For others tattoos act as a kind of payment to spirits and deities who can guarantee the owner safe passage into the afterlife and world of the ancestors. But for most groups tattooing represents a rite of passage marking the physical and psychological movement from one stage of life to the next. At the same time, it is a time-honored practice that celebrates the accomplishments of the ancestors who also sacrificed their own skins to make them more lasting and sacred.

In terms of archaeological evidence, however, the oldest form of tattooing is cosmetic. And at least one mummified man of the Chinchorro culture of Chile (South America) wore a tattooed mustache that is 7,000 years old. Of course, the oldest form of medicinal tattooing comes from Europe. And over 80% of the tattoos worn by the 5,500 year-old “Iceman” are located at classical acupuncture points used today to heal rheumatism. Not surprisingly, X-ray analysis of the Iceman revealed a body plagued by arthritis.