What Ötzi the Iceman Tells Us About Tattoos

Throughout history, humans have used tattoos to protect themselves against sorcery, claim membership in groups, declare their love, honor their loved ones, or simply express themselves. Tattoos date back thousands of years. Ötzi the Iceman is the 5200-year-old mummy who was found embedded in glacial ice in 1991 in the Ötztal Alps. He had sixty-one markings across his body that are considered to be tattooed by the experts. Other mummies with tattoos have been recovered from at least 49 archaeological sites, including locations in Greenland, Alaska, and the Philippines, which only suggests that tattoos were a worldwide thing.