Tyrolean ice man more than 5000 years old - "Ö.t.z.i." + 61 tattoo on the skin
Also known as the oldest Chalcolithic (Copper Age) European human natural mummy, which has been found to date in Europe. His remains and personal belongings are exhibited at the South Tyrol Archaeological Museum in Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy. Ötzi was found on September 19, 1991 by two German tourists 3,210 m (10,530 feet) at the height Fineilspitze the eastern ridge of Ötztal Alps on the Austrian-Italian border.
Initially, it was assumed that it was perished tourist, frozen in a glacier, this is a normal phenomenon for the region. The mummified body, along with other objects found nearby, was taken to the medical examiner's office in Innsbruck. Because of the ancient objects, university archaeologist Konrad Spindler was invited. He dated the find to "at least four thousand years old" based on the typology of the axe among the recovered objects.
Thus began the revival of this extraordinary mummy :) After solving the territorial affiliation, Ötzi ended up in Italy, on the border of which, according to the 1919 property law requirement act, it was located.
Ötzi had a total of 61 tattoos, consisting of 19 groups of black lines ranging from 1-3mm width and 7-40mm length. (These include groups of parallel lines running along the longitudinal axis of his body and both sides of his lumbar spine, as well as a cross-shaped mark behind his right knee and right ankle, and parallel lines around his left wrist. The greatest concentration of markings are found on his legs, which make up a total of 12 line groups.
Microscopic examination revealed that they were formed from a pigment composed of ash or soot. This pigment was rubbed into small linear incisions or punctures. There is a theory that Ötzi was tattooed several times in the same places, as most of the stripes are quite dark.
These tattoos may have been part of a pain-relieving treatment similar to acupressure, although Ötzi lived at least 2,000 years before their earliest use in China (around 1,000 BC). For example, 9 of his 19 tattoo groups are adjacent to or directly on acupuncture areas used today, and most of the rest are on meridians and other acupuncture areas of the body and over arthritic joints. Many of Ötzi's tattoos initially went unnoticed because they are difficult to see with the naked eye. Researchers in Italy used "non-invasive multispectral photography techniques" that can "see" in the range from infrared to ultraviolet electromagnetic spectrum. Ultimately, they confirmed the presence of 61 tattoos, divided into 19 groups on different parts of the body, according to a 2015 article published in the Journal of Cultural Heritage.
"We know that he suffered pain, especially in his back, because he walked a lot in the mountains ... he had one of his meniscus broken and had tattoos there, so he probably had suffered pain there as well," explains Putzer. “Those parts of his body where he was in pain, you see tattoos, and that’s why we think the tattoos were therapeutic, not decorative."
In a February 2016 study, Deter-Wolf compiled a database of dozens of examples of ancient tattoos, found on Egyptian, Chinese and Inca mummified remains, which identified Ötzi's body art as the oldest known example of tattooing. This feat was made possible thanks to non-destructive digital imaging technology and collaboration between archaeologists and tattoo artists :)
P.S.
In the fifth millennium since Ötzi got his tattoos, the technique of tattooing has expanded far beyond any ancient technique encountered by the Ice Man using sharp objects to rub coal ash into the skin. The practice of body tattooing has turned from acupuncture into an art. It has become a practice of various cultures and a form of expression of modern art, a kind of ritual :)
In my opinion, soot pigment has seeped into our blood for hundreds of years, that is why tattooing is so popular today - Tattooing is as old as the human species, regardless of its meaning or function.
Many thanks to our readers who have joined us on this journey “lin search of the origins of tattooing". We have already started researching materials for a new rubric, it will take some time, but we are here... Write, ask, send us the topics you would like to explore with us... :)