South American Tattoos

Published on 24 March 2024 at 18:58

The origin of South American tattoos 

South America has a history of a wide variety of human cultures and forms of civilization. The Caral Supe civilization, also known as the Norte Chico Civilization in Peru, is the oldest civilization in the America and one of the first six independent civilizations in the world. It is considered, first America was inhabited by people from East Asia who crossed the Bering Land Bridge into present-day Alaska. Today, the land is separated, and the continents divided by the Bering Strait. One of the oldest evidence of human presence in South America is the Monte Verde II site in Chile, which dates to about 14 500 years ago. 

South America has been home to several civilizations. With unparalleled cities and incredible artefacts, many of them have been preserved and dating back thousands of years before the Inca civilization. None of these South American civilizations left a writing system detailing their history, but we do have Tattoos, on mummies. They are the earliest example of artificially mummified human remains buried two thousand years before the Egyptian mummies. The earliest mummy found in Egypt dates from around 3000 BCE, while the oldest anthropogenically modified Chinchorro mummy dates to around 5050 BCE. The remains of a man with a moustache-like dotted line tattooed above his upper lip and dated to (2563-1972 BCE) are believed to be the oldest direct evidence of tattooing in America. There were many ancient fishing cultures hidden in the dry river valleys of the Andes, but Chinchorro are unique in that they especially guarded the dead. 

This allows us to start our journey with tangible evidence of tattooing. South America, the fourth largest continent, stretches from the Gulf of Darien in the northwest to the Tierra del Fuego archipelago in the south. Along with the Tierra del Fuego Islands, the continent includes the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), Easter Island (Chile), the Falkland Islands (United Kingdom), and the Chiloé and Juan Fernández Archipelagos (Chile). 

Alongside the Chinchorro culture, tattooed mummies have also been found in other Andean cultures including; 

Moche - Although actual physical evidence of tattooing is rare, there are many artifacts that indicate that tattooing was likely common and respected practices in the Moche world. At the heart of the Moche civilization was a huge city and temple complex, where the impressive Huaca De La Luna—Temple of the Moon—was once the center of worship. 

Archaeologists now know that it was not dedicated to the moon at all, but to a mountain god Moche Aiapaek. Both realistically and supernatural animals also adorn the body of the "Kao Lady". Several intricate tattoos on both arms, ankles and feet. The tattoos seem to be made with charcoal pigment and their designs were mostly geometric. Her tattoos include stylized catfish, spiders, crabs, felines, snakes, and a supernatural creature usually known as the Moon Animal. 

Chimu - Lived on the northern coast of Peru. The Chimu were a highly developed tribe with an elite ruling class, mummies have been found showing that both Chimu men and women were tattooed, most likely using the ' sewing ' method also found among some indigenous Artic tribes. In this method, needles made from fish bones or parrot feathers are dipped in pigment and then stitched through the skin to create the desired tattoo design. It is believed that Chimu women were tattoo artists among the tribe, and that in their tattooing practices used pigment was made from local fruits juice.

Archaeologists believe that the Chimu used tattoos to help their people pass to the afterlife, as the same designs have been found on golden burial gloves. 

Chiribaya - The woman's preserved skin still contains black decorative patterns and geometric shapes, some of her tattoos symbolize animals such as birds and reptiles. Unlike the animistic designs on her arms, the tattoos on her neck are simple overlapping circles in an asymmetrical arrangement. The big difference between the tattoo designs on her body suggests that the circles on her neck were probably intended for therapeutic use (acupuncture).

Maria Anna Pabst from the University of Graz, Austria, and her colleagues used different microscopy techniques to find out what the tattoos are made of. Decorative markings were made from soot, which is quite common in ancient tattoos. But the dye in the neck circles consisted of partially burnt plant material. This is the first time, when on the single mummy was found two types of tattoo materials.  

The context in which some of these archaeological specimens were found helps to reveal their meaning and function, but in many cases the reason for getting the tattoo remains a mystery. There is much possible evidence of tattooing in South American art. Ceramics offers countless examples of human figures with painted or incised lines.  

With incised scarified lines everything is simpler, we talked about this technique and its origin in the publication about Africa - what does it have to do with South America :)

The introduction of African slaves was a major change in the cultural landscape of South America. Most of the slaves were brought to Brazil. Their unique cultural practices were integrated with local beliefs as well as European rituals. 

The Moche are the ancestors of the Incas, who inherited the tradition of blood sacrifice from their ancestors. Blood was used in many religious rituals and human sacrifice was a common theme. Their god of war, known as the Decapitator god, a half-man, half-jaguar sometimes depicted as a spider ready to drain the blood of his enemies, was worshiped with Blood. Scarification was used ritually, both as a torturous form of human sacrifice and as a process of bloodletting in worship of one's god. As a culture that worshiped blood and fluids, this seems to be less about the scars left on the skin and more about the process of cutting and bleeding the skin. This is an interesting perspective on scarification, which is usually more about the end result than the process. 

The Inca Empire is the best-known indigenous culture in South America. The Inca Empire was established and expanded to include parts of present-day Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, and Colombia. Blood rituals were an integral part of Inca daily life, the practice of tattooing in South American civilizations declined with the rise of the Incas and was no longer practiced as an integral part of the culture.