A Look at Tribal Tattoos and Trends

by LongmanSex on Thursday, August 30, 2012

By Kenneth Orr


Tattoos have been used as symbols of self-expression or belonging since the dawn of humanity. The first tattoos were applied with sharp sticks that were dipped into ashes and forced under the skin.

Once the wound healed over, a permanent mark remained. Thousands of years ago, tattoos were used for a variety of reasons. The term "tribal tattoo" commonly refers to the type of tattoo we see today that harkens back to a time when tattoos were black marks used to describe belonging to a group or to certain occurrences, such as the hunt for real or mythological creatures or the relationship between humankind and the elements, the sun or the moon.

Tattoos were also used to express an individual's spiritual, religious, or magical beliefs. The oldest known tattooed body is that of a man that lived and died during the Bronze Age, over 5,000 years ago.

This man was found frozen into a glacier in Italy. Researchers, on close examination, found that the intricate tattoos that covered his body were of mythical creatures. Tribal tattoos link us to humanity through the ages, cultures, animals, and mythical creatures.

Today, we find tribal tattoos that relate to cultures such as Native American, Indigenous, African, Hawaiian, Samoan, Polynesian, Eskimo, Inuit, Pagan, Celtic, Asian and Tahitian, among others.

Most tribal tattoo designs are done in black ink alone or black ink along with some white and grey shading. There are some tribal tattoos that contain color, but it's used very sparingly. Tribal tattoos are very popular and are seen on nearly any part of the body.

Most often they're on the back and arms. Tattoo shops usually have lots of tribal flash, or designs that you can choose from. You can also look through tattoo magazines, on tattoo websites and even in articles and reports about tattoos found on ancient people.

If you're feeling creative, you can incorporate a tribal design with other elements. For example, if you're a tiger according to Chinese astrology and are also interested in tribal cultures, you could get a tattoo of a tiger with a black tribal design surrounding it, or running through it.

A good tattoo artist will be able to help you incorporate the elements to come up with a design that is uniquely yours. The versatility of tribal tattoos, paired with the feelings of connectedness that they convey continue to make tribal tattoos a popular choice for the tattoo collector or person who intends to get only one tattoo. When considering a tribal tattoo.




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