Iron Age Tatooing

HL Shahzia Nisaburi Courtier of the Barony of Wealdsmere

Methods of Iron Age Tattooing: Evidence from the Scythian Tombs

As technological advancements are made and archeological finds provide more evidence for study, there are ever increasing examples of tattooing from the Medieval era all the way back to Neolithic times. In my research it is my goal to recreate how a tattoo might have been made in period, specific to each civilization. I chose to examine evidence of Scythian tattooing from the Pazyryk Tombs first for this ongoing project because the tattoos are some of the most well preserved on any mummy ever discovered. The designs are fanciful, bold, and just as beautiful as the day they were applied some 2,500 years ago, between the 5th and the 3rd century B.C.E. (Krutak, pg. 215).