Oldest Tattoo
World's earliest figural tattoos discovered on Gebelein mummies Newly discovered marks push back evidence for tattooing in Africa by a millennium Mark Brown Thu 1 Mar 2018 00.01 GMT Newly discovered marks push back evidence for tattooing in Africa by a millennium A wild bull, a Barbary sheep and S-shaped motifs discovered on two mummies in the British Museum have been revealed as the world’s earliest known figural tattoos. Researchers say the discoveries on two naturally mummified bodies that date from between 3351 and 3017BC mean they will have to rewrite the story of tattooing. Daniel Antoine, the curator of physical anthropology at the British Museum , said: “Incredibly, at over 5,000 years of age, they push back the evidence for tattooing in Africa by a millennium.” The findings, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science , concern a mummified man and woman from Egypt’s predynastic period, the era before the country’s unifica...
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