Did you know?...
That... Tattooing has been used as a way of smuggling secret messages across enemy lines in times of war.
The 5th century BC Greek historian, Herodotus, records how Histiaeus of Miletus, who was being held against his will by King Darius of Susa, sent a tattooed secret message to his son-in-law, Aristagoras. Histiaeus shaved the hair of his slave and tattooed the message on to the man's head. The slave was told that the procedure would cure his failing eyesight. When the slave's hair had grown back sufficiently to hide the tattoo, he was sent to Aristagoras, who shaved his head and read the hidden message. The message instructed Aristagoras to begin a rebellion.
That... The world's most tattooed person is Tom Leppard from the Isle of Skye, Scotland, who has 99.9 per cent of his body covered with a leopard-skin design.
Guinness World Records states that the only parts of Tom's body that remain untattooed are the skin between his toes and the insides of his ears.
The claim to be the world's most tattooed woman is shared between Canadian Krystyne Kolorful and American Julia Gnuse. Both have 95 per cent of their bodies tattooed. Julia began to tattoo her body in order to disguise the effects of porphyria, a disease which can leave skin permanently scarred.
That... Tomika Te Mutu, a chief of the Ngai te rangi tribeIn the late-18th and early-19th centuries collecting tattooed Maori heads became so popular in Europe that many Maoris were murdered to supply the trade.
The Maori people in New Zealand tattooed their heads (moko) and buttocks by chiselling a design into the skin and rubbing ink into it. If one of their chiefs died, they would remove and preserve the tattooed head, keeping it as a treasured possession.
Europeans considered these heads to be curiosities and before long a trade sprang up, with the Maori exchanging heads for firearms. Soon the Maori began to trade the heads of their enemies killed in battle, but when demand started to exceed supply, men began to be murdered in cold blood for their tattoos.
In some cases, slaves were tattooed so that their heads could be cut off and sold. In 1831 Governor Darling of New South Wales took steps to outlaw the practice.
That... Otzi, the iceman In October 1991, the 5000 year-old frozen body of a Bronze Age hunter was found between Austria and Italy. His body bore several tattoos.
The body, nicknamed Özti, the iceman, was found in a glacier and was so well preserved that scientists were able to make out a number of tattoos. These included a cross on the inside of the left knee, six straight lines 15 cm above the kidneys and a series of parallel lines on the ankles.
Close-up of the tattoos on OztiClose-up of the tattoos on Ozti. The position of the tattoos has caused some to speculate that the man had his body marked for therapeutic reasons, because many of the marks correspond to the position of acupuncture points.
That... Sailors with Tattoos
A pig tattooed on one foot and a rooster on the other were said to protect a seaman from drowning. Neither animal can swim and it was thought they would help get the sailor swiftly to shore if he fell into the water.
Other popular tattoos amongst sailors are also attributed with particular meanings:
* a full-rigged ship shows the seaman has sailed round Cape Horn
* an anchor indicates he has sailed the Atlantic Ocean
* a dragon denotes that the bearer has served on a China station
* a shellback turtle shows the sailor has crossed the equator
* 'Hold' tattooed on the knuckles of one hand and 'fast' on the other were said to allow the bearer to grip the rigging better.
That... Landing at Mallicolo (Malekula), one of the New Hebrides. William Hodges c. 1776
The word 'tattoo' is derived from the Tahitian word 'tatau', meaning to mark.
The word 'tattaw' was first used in the published account of Captain Cook's first voyage, which appeared in 1769. It has been suggested that 'tatau' is an onomatopoeic word. 'Tat' refers to tapping the tattooing instrument into the skin; 'au' to the cry of pain from the person being tattooed.
That... Urine was sometimes used to mix the colouring matter of early tattoos.
Early colouring materials for tattoos included soot or ink for blue-black and brick dust for reds. To work, these needed to be bound together by a mixing agent. Often the tattooist used his own spittle to mix the colour but occasionally urine was used instead. Until 1891, when the first electric tattooing machine was patented by Tom Riley, all colours were applied by hand. Early tattooing tools were rather like pen holders with a number of needles set into them.
That... The tattooing machine is based on the design of the doorbell.
The quick poking action of a tattooing machine, which injects the ink into the skin, is driven by an electric circuit very similar to that which operates the household doorbell. Modern tattoo artists work with a number of tattooing machines, each reserved to inject a different colour. The number of needles set in the machine and their fineness depends on what the machine is being used for. Finer needles are used for outlines, while coarser needles are used for filling in or for shading.
In prison, where tattooing machines are banned, inmates have been known to make their own makeshift tattooing machines using guitar strings and the motor from a tape deck.
That... A Night Dance by Men, in Hapaee by John Webber Tahitians believed that the process of tattooing the body served to contain its sacred power.
The Polynesian view of the body differed from that of the Europeans. Polynesians believed that there were two worlds: the world of light and ordinary life (ao) and the world of darkness and gods (po). Humans came from po at birth and returned there at death. This gave the body a potentially dangerous primal power, which would overcome the present world if it was not contained. A number of rites from infancy onwards were designed to restrain this power by lessening the body's sacredness.
In Tahiti, these rites culminated in the act of tattooing the body around the time of puberty in order to 'seal off' its power.
That... Removing a tattoo can cost up to three times more than the design itself.
Tattoos last forever and sometimes a tattoo can become an embarrassment in later life. Because tattoos lie in the deep layer of skin known as the dermis, they are very difficult to remove. Early forms of tattoo removal included the injection or application of wine, lime, garlic or pigeon excrement.
Unsurprisingly, none of these methods was effective. Later removal techniques include dermabrasion, when the skin is effectively 'sanded down', and excision, in which the tattoo is surgically removed. Both methods result in scarring.
In the late 1980s laser surgery became popular for tattoo removal. However, the treatment is not cheap and can cost thousands of pounds, depending on the tattoo's size, type and location.
That... Sharing the Pain, In the Pacific island of Samoa a chief would pay for his son and other lower-ranking males to be tattooed in the same ceremony.
The tattooing ceremony was considered so important in Samoa that houses were erected specially for the event. Lavish feasts were prepared and entertainments laid on for those attending. Although the ceremony revolved around the tattooing of the chief's son, his lower-status contemporaries were also tattooed at the chief's expense. These youths supported the chief's son and shared his pain. By subjecting himself to the painful process of tattooing, the chief's son was demonstrating his bravery at the same time as showing his respect for his elders by submitting to their will.
That... The Chief at Sta Christina by William Hodges, 1776 The severity of pain experienced when being tattooed depends on the location of the tattoo. The most painful areas are those where the skin is very close to the bone, such as the ankles, elbows and knees. It is less painful to be tattooed on more fleshy areas such as the chest or upper arms. Pain was an important part of tattooing for Polynesian societies.
In Tahiti, the chief's son was watched closely as he was tattooed for signs of pain. In Samoa, it was often said that tattooing was the equivalent for men of the great pain a woman endured when giving birth.
That... Samoan tattoo artists used combs to apply their designs.
On the Pacific island of Samoa, tattooist carried out their art by dipping the pointed teeth of combs into ink and placing them on the surface of the skin. The comb was then tapped so that the teeth punctured the skin, inserting the ink. Both men and women had their bodies tattooed and elaborate designs could take several months to complete. In Samoan tradition, tattoos were restricted to the lower part of the body.
