Global Diversity and Distributions of Traditional Tattooing Tools

Abstract

Tools and techniques used to permanently mark skin prior to the introduction of the electric tattooing machine have varied widely throughout the human past according to region, culture, and era. Prior studies have sought to develop general typologies of these tattooing tools based primarily on the methods through which they were applied to the skin, rather than tool morphologies. This chapter draws on a global database of ethnographic, ethnohistorical, and anthropological documentation including over 1,500 individual descriptions and images of tattooing tools and techniques to present a new overview of global patterning and variability. That information comprises the largest and most comprehensive data set on pre-electric tattooing tools published to date, and informs a new typological division of tattooing tools and techniques. Understanding the broad patterns of these variations, their geographic distribution, and how they connect to macromorphological tool categories is essential for researchers seeking to identify the artifactual evidence of tattooing practices, and may also aid in studying past intercultural relationships.