A tattoo is a puncture wound, made deep in your skin, that is filled with ink. The word “tattoo” is said to come from two major derivations. One comes from the Polynesians word “ta” which means striking something. The second one comes from the Tahitian word “tatu” which means to mark something. Tattoos have existed since 12,000 years BC. It is said that tattoos had started in Ancient Greek and in Rome. Tattoos have always played an important role in rituals and traditions over the time periods. Tattoos played different roles in different cultures over the world. Tattoos were used as a mode of communication in Greek culture. They used it as a way of communication between spies. The tattoos were a way to show the ranks of the spies and a way of identification. Romans used it as a way to mark slaves and criminals. In the Mediterranean region also used it to mark their criminals. The tattoos marked them with the crime they committed, what punishment they had, and the names of the victims put on their foreheads. Tattoos were used as clan markings. The clan markings were used to identify a person during wars. It would determine whether the dead body was an enemy towards the clan or if it was a friend. They were also used as a form of marking for families. If they were to get separated in death, they could find each other again in the afterlife. In Tahiti, the tattoos were …show more content…
They were used by many people for different things. From simple tattoos to identify a friend or a foe or a way to rank people in a tribe. To a type of rite of passage and a way to mark criminals. Different cultures had different ways of seeing what tattoos were. Later on, Samuel O’Reilly invented an electronic machine for tattoos. It was meant to change the traditional way of marking tattoos. Instead of handmade tattoos that took hours, it was simplified by a machine that would finish the tattoos in minutes. It revolutionized the way tattoos were