Ancient Ink: The Archaeology of Tattooing

The desire to alter and adorn the human body is universal. While specific forms of body decoration and the motivations for them vary according to region, culture, and era, all human societies have engaged in practices designed to enhance people's natural appearance. One of the most widespread types of body art, tattooing, appears on human mummies by 3200 BCE and was practiced by ancient cultures throughout the world.

Ancient Ink, the first book dedicated to the archaeological study of tattooing, presents new research examining tattooed human remains, tattoo tools, and art. Examples include Predynastic Egyptian tattoo traditions, Iron Age animal motifs of Siberia, Ottoman-era religious imagery of Croatian Catholics, historical and contemporary burik designs of the Philippines, and the modern revival of birthing tattoos in Alaska. This volume contributes to our understanding of the antiquity, durability, and significance of tattooing and human body decoration and illuminates how different societies have used their skin to construct identities, transmit knowledge, and display societal values. Ancient Ink connects ancient body art traditions to modern culture with essays on Indigenous tattoo revitalization and the work of contemporary tattoo artists who employ historical techniques and imagery, demonstrating the pervasiveness of tattooing and its status as a shared human practice.

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction / Aaron Deter-Wolf and Lars Krutak

Part One: Skin
1. New Tattoos from Ancient Egypt: Defining Marks of Culture / Renée Friedman
2. Burik: Tattoos of the Ibaloy Mummies of Benguet, North Luzon, Philippines Analyn Salvador-Amores
3. Reviving Tribal Tattoo Traditions of the Philippines / Lars Krutak
4. The Mummification Process Among the "Fire Mummies" of Kabayan: A Paleohistological Note / Dario Piombino-Mascali, Ronald G. Beckett, Orlando V. Abinion, and Dong Hoon Shin
5. Identifications of Iron Age Tattoos from the Altai-Sayan Mountains in Russia / Svetlana Pankova
6. Neo-Pazyryk Tattoos: A Modern Revival / Colin Dale and Lars Krutak
7. Recovering the Nineteenth-Century European Tattoo: Collections, Contexts, and Techniques / Gemma Angel
8. After You Die: Preserving Tattooed Skin / Aaron Deter-Wolf and Lars Krutak

Part Two: Tools
9. The Antiquity of Tattooing in Southeastern Europe / Petar N. Zidarov
10. Balkan Ink: Europe's Oldest Living Tattoo Tradition / Lars Krutak
11. Archaeological Evidence for Tattooing in Polynesia and Micronesia / Louise Furey
12. Reading Between Our Lines: Tattooing in Papua New Guinea / Lars Krutak
13. Scratching the Surface: Mistaken Identifications of Tattoo Tools from Eastern North America / Aaron Deter-Wolf, Benoit Robitaille, and Isaac Walters
14. Native North American Tattoo Revival / Lars Krutak