Issue 03
Tribal
Primal, sacred tattooing in precolonial societies. Some called it “tribal”.
At a root level in primal societies, tattoos have indicated age, marital status, power or class. Tattooing has always functioned as tribal marking, at a glance distinguishing friend from foe. It is widely accepted that the expansion of colonialism represented the determining factor in erasing much of the knowledge surrounding symbolism and purpose of primal tattoo traditions. Tattooing seems to be one of the great perennial traditions that has connected global primal cultures all over the world. Despite a history of sacred tattooing in middle-eastern Christianity itself, European missionaries and conquistadors disapproved of most pagan practices- considering tribal scarification and tattooing akin to human sacrifice or cannibalism. Considering such body modifications “uncivilized primitive rites” that needed to be eradicated, much of the oral tradition surrounding tattoo culture was lost.
Bronze Age tools most likely utilized for tattooing have been found in various archeological sites around Europe. It is quite likely that a tribal tattoo culture existed before the last great Ice Age, which happened 12,000 years ago. Tribes of Borneo still practice traditional tattooing, in a signature style which has been hugely influential in what modern western collectors consider contemporary “tribal” tattoos.
Recent archeological finds indicate that the ancestors of contemporary Borneo tribal people reach back over 50,000 years. Borneo tribal tattoos were used as talismans to ward off evil or illness, reflect status, successful hunts, and post-mortem transition of the soul to the next life. How long can we reasonably estimate that tattooing, as an aspect of their tribal tradition, has played a part in their cultural development?
Borneo Tribal
Borneo Tribal
It is likely that the first prehistoric tattoos were done in a manner to be sacred or therapeutic more than artistic. In 1991, the body of a 5000 year old hunter was discovered on a a mountain between Austria and Italy. The crosses, dots, and lines that the Iceman had tattooed on his ankles, back, shins, and knees, corresponded with arthritis and other medical issues evident underneath the areas tattooed. The speculated method of healing these ailments was cutting open afflicted areas, packing the incision with medicinal herbs, and burning them -cauterizing the wound- leaving a permanent tattoo mark wherever treated.
The mummy of an Egyptian tattooed priestess named Amunet, servant of the goddess Hathor, from Thebes during the 21st Dynasty (2160-1994 BC), showed incredibly well preserved symbolic tattoos. These markings including parallel lines on her arms and thighs, plus an elliptical pattern below her navel. Her tattoos were duplicated exactly on other mummified priestesses. Egyptologists believe that the designs found on Amunet and other tattooed female mummies (also carved similarity on “ brides of the dead“ statuettes buried with male mummies) symbolized fertility and rejuvenation.
2500 years ago, In the pre-Christian area, tattooed horsemen and warriors called the Pazyryk roamed the plains of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. In 1948, a Russian anthropologist named Sergei Rudenko found a Pazyryk tomb in the Altai mountains of southwestern Siberia. The tomb included Iron Age humans and horses, saddles, a chariot, clothing, jewelry, amulets, pipes, as well as two of the world’s best preserved heavily tattooed bodies ever found. A male chieftain and female princess.
Pazyryk Mummies
Pazyryk Mummies
Primal societies often considered tattooing a status marker. An honour reserved for higher echelon members of tribes. The fact that only two of the bodies found in the Pazyryk tomb had extensive tattooing may reflect this theory. The chieftain had two tattooed sleeves, as well as chest and back tattoos, and his full right shin covered. The designs were detailed representations of interlocking mythical and real animals: Tigers, deer, snakes, goats fish and rams. The young woman’s tattoos also showed stylized mythological animals: one a deer with a griffon's beak and antlers ending in griffin heads.
The Pazyryk tribal designs were rivals to the quality of similar tattoos done by the tribes of Burma and Thailand at the same time. The south eastern Asian tattoos were believed to provide magical protection for their wearers in battle or on hunting-fishing expeditions. It is reasonable to assume on a basic level that these tattoos may have been applied to serve a similar purpose. The Pazyryk tribal tattooss repeated the same images of animals as in other types of art, so it is also believed that tattoos were probably also used as a means of personal identification and tribal identification; like a passport may be used now. Russian anthropologists hypothesize that the Pazyryk may have believed that tattoos would be helpful in afterlife as well, making it easier for the people of the same family and culture to find each other after death.
Shaman and designated medicine men and women were often tasked with applying sacred tattooing in accordance with traditional tribal parameters. Age, gender, status, and personal accomplishment all factored into what tattoos could be applied to an individual in any given community. On a personal level, tattooing has always reflected personal identity. But any individual is inherently a member of a larger collective. Symbolizing tribal allegiance and status can be a matter of life or death in certain environments. In various warrior cultures around the globe, significant visible tattoos may instil fear in the enemy, or respect in neighbouring communities. While some tribes marked their women and children with certain designs to make them worthless to slave traders or other tribes known to kidnap and subjugate of captives, there are accounts of tattooed sailors being saved from certain death at the hands of tribal warriors by virtue of having tattoos they found impressive!
A tattoo can represent a symbol of pride if awarded for the achievement of transitioning into adulthood, or through various other rites of passage. Tattooed symbols can provide the bearer a sense of inner strength, as an accomplishment of overcoming monumental ordeals. Some cultures also ascribe metaphysical power to the process, with some tattooing being able to imbue supernatural abilities into the wearer. To this day, the Sak Yant ceremonial tattooing in Thailand is often performed by Buddhist monks, including quadrants filled with sacred formulas (yantras) offering protection against calamities, violence, or evil spirits.
Thai Sak Yant
Thai Sak Yant
The culture and techniques of tattooing has definitely evolved with humanity as much as any other technology we use. Our tastes and aesthetics in what we want tattooed may have refined over the centuries, but our actual motivations may be eerily similar to our primal ancestors. Symbols of luck, strength, warrior powress, mating potential, or even petitions for a fortunate afterlife are still incorporated in western tattoo designs to this day! It is for very valid reasons that Milton Ziess proclaimed in his famous 1940 tattoo window sign: “Tattooing: As Ancient as Time, as Modern as Tomorrow”!
See you soon for your next totem or talisman!
