Tattoo: A Short
History------------------------------------------------------
Tattoos
have been around as long as time can tell. Signs of tattoos date
back to the Paleolithic era, where artifacts have been found with
markings
portraying this art form. While running around in loin clothes and killing
prey
with wooden mallets and rocks has ceased to exist, many people still get
tattooed today.
The word tattoo is a mix between the Polynesian word “ta”
meaning
‘to strike’ and the Tahitian word “tatau” which means to make a mark on
something. Another definition that is not as familiar is “tat”
being the part of
the word that signifies the striking and marking, and “au” being the sound that a
person makes to confirm the pain of the process. Setting aside the literal
meaning of the word tattoo, the idea of tattooing was practiced from one
culture to the next and played many important roles their upbringings.
Rising from what was believed to be an accident, tattoos
have a long
and lasting role in world history. An accident tattoo that started the hysteria
of
tattooing was said to have come from small wounds on the flesh of the body.
The open wound was than soiled with dirt or ash leaving a permanent design
on the skin.
Ancient tattoos were done for numerous reasons. Some tattoos were
performed ritualistically, others done for the sole act of showing beauty
amongst woman. To some people, the more tattoos on the skin, the stronger
the person was. Tattoos were used to show certain skills different people
acquired throughout the years. Identification is a significant reason for
tattooing. Tattoos were also important for use in spying, or sending/receiving
secret messages. The list goes on and on from proving adulthood, to warding
off evil spirits.
TATTOO INSTRUMENTS------------------------------------------------
The earliest recorded tattoo instruments come from the Paleolithic
period (10,000-38,000 BC) when
disks and sharp needles made of bone
were used. The disk provided a place for the ink to be held and the needle
was used to engrave the design
into the skin.
Also seen early on in Africa, razor blades were used to carve the
design into a person’s
flesh. The wound was than filled with charcoal leaving a
permanent mark.
Polynesian tattooing is still a popular form of tattooing today. The
needles could have been made
from any of the following materials: bird bone,
turtle shell, bamboo, pig
s teeth, and on occasion, sharks
teeth. A number of
needles were used depending on
the design being done. The needles were
placed on the end of a wooden
handle to resemble a present day gardening
rake. The top of the rake was than tapped into the skin, leaving its design.
(Refer to Picture 1)
Samoan tattoos were done using primarily the same instrument at the
Polynesian tattoos, but the needles
were preferably made of human bone.
Again, Philippine tattoo devices resembled that of the Polynesian
device.
“Tattooing instruments were made from a piece of wood or
water
buffalo (caribou) horn about 10 cm long and 2 mm thick. At about a
sixth
of its length it was bent at a right angle and, in the shorter arm, three to
five
needles were affixed. The needles were laid on the skin and driven in with
blows
of a wooden hammer at the rate of 90 to 120 taps per minute. Soot
from
resinous wood such as spruce was used for pigment and rubbed into the wounds, causing the flesh to rise in great welts, which sometimes became infected.” (Hemingson.)
Inuit tribes used sewing to obtain their tattoos. Needles much like
present day sewing needles
were made and threaded. The thread was then dipped in ink and the person tattooing
literally stitched the design beneath the other person’s skin. Pulling
the thread completely out of the
skin after the process was finished, all that is left behind is the ink and its design.
Along with man, the tattoo machine also evolved. The first tattoo machine
was patented in 1891 by Samuel O’Reilly. Electromagnetism is described
as the following: “the phenomena associated with electric and magnetic fields and
their interactions with each other and with electric charges and currents.” (Dictionary.com.)
“Homemade”
tattoo instruments are being assembled and used more frequently these days. Electric
toothbrushes, mechanical pencils, erasers, and guitar strings are popular items to use to make homemade tattoo devices.
INK-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Using the resources around them, early civilizations
used materials from nature to create their tattoo inks. Ash and charcoal from
the fire was often used as a form of ink. An early recipe for tattoo ink is as
follows:
“Egyptian
pine wood (acacia) and especially the bark, one pound; corroded bronze, two ounces; gall, two ounces; vitriol, one ounce. Mix well and sift. Grind the corroded bronze with vinegar and mix it with the
other ingredients to make a powder.
Soak the powder in two parts of water and one part of leek juice and mix thoroughly.” (Hemingson.)
Here is a chart
showing what ink is made of today:
|
Composition of Tattoo Pigments |
|
Color |
Materials |
Comment |
|
Black |
Iron Oxide (Fe3O4)
Iron Oxide (FeO)
Carbon
Logwood |
Natural black pigment is made from magnetite
crystals, powdered jet, wustite, bone black, and amorphous carbon from combustion (soot). Black pigment is commonly made into
India ink.
Logwood is a heartwood extract from Haematoxylon
campechisnum, found in Central America and the West Indies. |
|
Brown |
Ochre |
Ochre is composed of iron (ferric) oxides mixed with clay. Raw ochre is yellowish. When dehydrated through
heating, ochre changes to a reddish color. |
|
Red |
Cinnabar (HgS)
Cadmium Red (CdSe)
Iron Oxide (Fe2O3)
Napthol-AS pigment |
Iron oxide is also known as common rust. Cinnabar and cadmium pigments are highly toxic. Napthol reds
are synthesized from Naptha. Fewer reactions have been reported with naphthol red than the other pigments, but all reds carry
risks of allergic or other reactions. |
|
Orange |
disazodiarylide and/or disazopyrazolone
cadmium seleno-sulfide |
The organics are formed from the condensation of 2 monoazo pigment molecules. They are large molecules
with good thermal stability and colorfastness. |
|
Flesh |
Ochres (iron oxides mixed with clay) |
|
|
Yellow |
Cadmium Yellow (CdS, CdZnS)
Ochres
Curcuma Yellow
Chrome Yellow (PbCrO4, often
mixed with PbS)
disazodiarylide |
Curcuma is derived from plants of the ginger family; aka tumeric or curcurmin. Reactions are commonly
associated with yellow pigments, in part because more pigment is needed to achieve a bright color. |
|
Green |
Chromium Oxide (Cr2O3),
called Casalis Green or Anadomis Green
Malachite [Cu2(CO3)(OH)2]
Ferrocyanides and Ferricyanides
Lead chromate
Monoazo pigment
Cu/Al phthalocyanine
Cu phthalocyanine |
The greens often include admixtures, such as potassium ferrocyanide (yellow or red) and ferric ferrocyanide
(Prussian Blue) |
|
Blue |
Azure Blue
Cobalt Blue
Cu-phthalocyanine |
Blue pigments from minerals include copper
(II) carbonate (azurite), sodium aluminum silicate (lapis lazuli), calcium copper silicate (Egyptian Blue), other cobalt aluminum
oxides and chromium oxides. The safest blues and greens are copper salts, such as copper pthalocyanine. Copper pthalocyanine
pigments have FDA approval for use in infant furniture and toys and contact lenses. The copper-based pigments are considerably
safer or more stable than cobalt or ultramarine pigments. |
|
Violet |
Manganese Violet (manganese ammonium pyrophosphate)
Various aluminum salts
Quinacridone
Dioxazine/carbazole |
Some of the purples, especially the bright magentas, are photoreactive and lose their color after prolonged
exposure to light. Dioxazine and carbazole result in the most stable purple pigments. |
|
White |
Lead White (Lead Carbonate)
Titanium dioxide (TiO2)
Barium Sulfate (BaSO4)
Zinc Oxide |
Some white pigments are derived from anatase or rutile. White pigment may be used alone or to dilute
the intensity of other pigments. Titanium oxides are one of the least reactive white pigments. |
Most inks today are made by the tattoo artist themselves. They use
various pure pigments
that come in powder form to create their own colors.
A new ink being used today is black light ink. Barely visible on the skin,
the tattoo shows only
in full force under a black light, usually in night clubs.
RISKS----------------------------------------------------------------------
Common sense: If a tattoo is done safely and
properly, the harmful risks of
tattooing are practically
none existent.
From way-back-when to today, the number one risk of tattooing is
infection of the tattoo
or surrounding area. In history, death due to infection
from a tattoo was a high
risk with lack of supplies needed to keep the area
clean. A tattoo is an open wound and must be treated with care. Applying
lotion to a new tattoo
and washing once to twice daily make the risk of
infection slim to none.
Another risk is tattoo allergies. Reactions to the dyes used for a tattoo can
make the skin glow or
scab. While an allergy could be deadly, they can also
be cured using medicine
from your local pharmacy.
Unsterilized needles can also lead to disease.
In early tattooing, one needle
was shared between many
people, often whole villages. The chance of
receiving a disease transferred
through human blood was at jeopardy.
Hepatitis is the number
one disease associated with tattooing. Most tattoo
artists today use single
use needles, and sterilize all of their equipment and
tattooing area after every
client.
TATTOO REMOVAL------------------------------------------------------
As unpleasant as it sounds, early tattoo removable was done by materials
such as sandpaper or rock. The area of the skin containing the tattoo would
be rubbed until the design
was scraped out of the skin. Another form of
ancient removal was the
cutting out of the flesh containing the tattoo.
Another formula for tattoo
removal is defined as:
“In cases where we wish to remove such tattoos, we must use the
following preparations…There
follow two prescriptions, one involving lime,
gypsum and sodium carbonate,
the other pepper, rue and honey. When
applying first clean the
tattoos with nitre, smear them with resin of terebinth,
and bandage for five days.
On the sixth prick the tattoos with a pin, sponge
away the blood, and then
spread a little salt on the pricks, then after an interval
of stadioi (presumably
the time taken to travel this distance), apply the
aforesaid prescription
and cover it with a linen bandage. Leave it on five days,
and on the sixth smear
on some of prescription with a feather. The tattoos are
removed in twenty days,
without great ulceration and without a scar.” (Hemingson.)
The most popular form of tattoo removal today is done by laser. Easily
put, a laser is used to
blast the pigment of the tattoo which is then broken up
into smaller portions
which are easily washed out by the blood stream.
A wise piece of advice: Do not get a tattoo unless you are 100
percent sure
you want it.
