It was an accidental discovery.
In 1991, hikers stumbled upon a mummified corpse in the Ötzal Alps, which straddles the border between Italy and Austria. Naturally preserved by a combination of glacial meltwater and cold weather, Ötzi, the Tyrolean Iceman, boasted 61 tattoo markings across his weathered body. Subsequent examinations led to the belief the markings were related to therapeutic treatments Ötzi’s people practiced.
Peruse scholarly articles, or even the Guinness World Records, and one finds the Iceman named as the record holder for the oldest tattoos. However, that title came into doubt recently, as some contend the title belongs to a mummified man from the Chinchorro culture of South America.
In 1983, water line construction in Arica, Chile, led to the discovery of 96 human bodies. Four bodies, one male and three females, exhibited distinct characteristics of tattooing. The male had tattoos on his upper lip, consisting of lines of dots. The Chinchorro people thrived in the coastal regions of Chile and southern Peru between 7000 and 1100 BC.
Now, scientists have settled the matter through radiocarbon dating and published the results in the Journal of Archeological Science. The team was led by archaeologist Aaron Deter-Wolf.
“Although written records of tattooing date back to at least the 5th century BC in Greece, and possibly several centuries earlier in China, the actual antiquity of the practice, both on a regular basis and as a worldwide phenomenon, remain unknown,” the researchers write.
“Indigenous tattoo traditions have functioned to signal entry into adulthood, reflect social status, document martial achievement, demonstrate lineage and group affiliation and to channel and direct preternatural forces,” the researchers add.
The team observed and compared radiocarbon data from mummified tattooed human bodies from around the globe, including the American Arctic, Greenland, Siberia, Western China, the Philippines, Africa, Europe, Mexico and the Andes. Ötzi, the team found, predated the Chinchorro mummy by at least 500 years, with his death dated around 3250 BC.
“Investigators have also processed samples from his wooden bow, pannier, ax shaft, quiver and clothing, as well as mosses, leather and animal hair recovered from the gully where Ötzi was entombed,” the researchers write. Radiocarbon dating these items confirmed the time period of Ötzi’s death, between 3370 and 3100 BC.
Radiocarbon dating done on the Chinchorro mummy, which was based on a lung tissue sample, puts its age between 2563 and 1972 BC.
So congratulations Ötzi on retaining the world’s oldest tattoo honor. But as the researchers write, it’s highly unlikely Ötzi represents the first tattooed person in the world. For now, he’s just the oldest. Enjoy it while it lasts, Ötzi.
