Iceman Used Soot For His Tattoo
By Dan Vergano
Published : August 19, 2009

Fire pit soot likely was the tattoo ink for “Otzi”, the iceman found frozen in the Alps in 1991, concludes a scientific analysis.

In the current Journal of Archeological Science, a team led by Maria Pabst of Austria’s Medical University of Graz, report electron microscope examinations of Europe’s oldest mummy, dating to 5,300 years ago.

“Skin samples of several line tattoos and a cross tattoo were investigated,” says the study. “On the skin of the Tyrolean Iceman there are groups of one, two, three, four and seven tattoo-lines parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body and two crosses.”

All of the iceman’s tattoos — the oldest tattoos ever found on a mummy — reside on areas normally hidden by clothing. They include straight lines on the small of the back, and crosses on the right knee and left ankle.

Past scholars note the tattoos may correspond to pressure points for acupuncture treatments, the authors say. All of the tattoos appear to be soot taken from the same fireplace, except on the right leg, which suggests it may have been applied at a different time.

The researchers also found chemical traces of skin pigment on Otzi, a first for the mummy. Although some study had indicated more elaborate ink was used in Otzi’s tattoos, it “definitely was soot,” concludes the analysis.

Source : Science Fair Blog