Tattoo History

People have been marking their skin for longer than we've had writing, cities, or the wheel in most of the world. Tattooing isn't a trend that started with sailors or rock stars — it's one of the oldest art forms on Earth, and every era has used it to say the same kinds of things: this is who I am, this is my people, this is what I've survived. Here's the tour, oldest first — the way we'd walk you through it at the shop. ~3300 BCE — Ötzi the Iceman, the Alps The oldest tattoo