Tribal Tattoo Designs Through the Ages

Tattoos have passed through the mists of time... tattoos are seen in all corners of the world... tattoos that have deep cultural or religious meaning. Check out this collection of tattoo design pictures for a look at some amazing, early examples of 'real' tribal tattoo work -- images from around the globe and tribal designs drawn down through history.

Tribal Tattoo Designs Pictures & text are from the book "Tribal Tattoo Designs" by Maarten Hesselt van Dinter, Pepin Press. Maarten has a collection of 2000 drawings, pictures and more than 1000 books and articles on cultural anthropology and tattooing. So far he has found more than 110 cultures that one time or another practiced tattooing. Pictures and text used with kind permission.

For more detail on the history of tattooing check out out the world's largest Tattoo Museum

Meanings of Tribal Tattoo Designs - Online Dictionary

Tribal Tattoo Design History - a visual timeline...

2000BC
Egypt
High Priestess
>> 1 picture <<

50BC
Central Asia
Scythian Chief
>> 4 pictures <<

400AD
Great Britain
Pict couple
>> 3 pictures <<

1800AD
Egypt
Coptic tattoos
>> 3 pictures <<

1800AD
Burma
Tattoo designs
>> 2 pictures <<

1800AD
New Zealand
Maori tattoos
>> 3 pictures <<

1815AD
Hawaii
Royal tattoos
>> 2 pictures <<

1850AD
Egypt
Female tattoos
>> 2 pictures <<

1850AD
Laos-Thailand-Burma
Trouser tattoos
>> 4 pictures <<

1880AD
North Africa
Moroccan woman
>> 2 pictures <<

1880AD
Philippines
Mindanao designs
>> 2 pictures <<

1885AD
Queen Charlottes
Haida couple
>> 2 pictures <<

Recipe for tattooing in 6 A.D. Rome.

	1 lb. of Egyptian pine wood bark
	2 ounces of corroded bronze, ground with vinegar
	2 ounces of gall (insect egg deposits)
	1 oz. of vitriol (iron sulphate)
	Mix well and sift. Soak powder in 2 parts water and 1 part leek juice.
	Wash the skin to be tattooed with leek juice.
	Prick design with needles until blood is drawn.
	Rub in the ink.

Aetius (Roman physician)

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