"ETERNAL SIGNS: MUMMIES OF THE WORLD"

Kolejna atrakcja podczas Konwentu we Florencji. http://www.florencetattooconvention.com

"ETERNAL SIGNS: MUMMIES OF THE WORLD"
A special and unique photographic exhibition that will remain active for all the event duration.

The exhibition will get you in a articulated and valued journey based on the history of tattoo linked to fascinating phenomenon of mummification, all over the world and along the whole history of mankind.

The trip, richly described by explanatory captions, proceeds in a geographical sense with a large pool of tattooed mummies images belonging to distant lands such as Peru, with Princess Shaman Lady of Cao, with Siberian mummies belonging to the Shiite people of Pazyryk, New Zealand , the Philippinesand Italy.

The expo purpose is to show the how much ancient this practice is and how much important has been in humanity history
People get tattooed since immemorial time, the right time to practice can be determined according with natural cycles, the reason could have been to belong a tribe, follow a thought or a cult, for protection from the evil spirits or mark an important moment in own human evolution.

Tattoo hand - Photograph © Joann Fletcher

Oetzi the Iceman, a unique archaeological find, now preserved in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology,  www.iceman.it, that work in collaboration with  EURAC  Institute for Mummies and the Iceman,  which promotes international research specializes exclusively in studies of mummies.

The mummy dates back to a period between 3300 and 3200 BC has been preserved because of the glacier special climatic conditions, with it are preserved its fascinating tattoos, some of which are visible only through infrared.
Ötzi's tattoos are not figurative, these lines and crosses are located in parts of the body where the man had problems with arthritis.
It can therefore safely say that this is the first tattoo medical history of man.

Tattoo Bone - Photograph © Eurac

The Florence Tattoo Convention invites you to enter this magical world populated by signs, beliefs, rituals, mantras, songs, dances and tattoo always linked to the spirit of man.

“Non è possibile trovare alcuna area del mondo, dalle regioni polari nel nord fino alla Nuova Zelanda nel sud, le cui popolazioni originarie non usassero marcare il loro corpo con tatuaggi”

Charles Darwin, da Il viaggio della nave Beagle

Dragotto Valentina
Ass. Firenze Indelebile

Tatuaż a akupunktura

Na blogu USA today ukazał się ciekawy artykuł zatytułowany "Mummy tattoos hint at ancient Andean acupunture". Artykuł dotyczy badań nad tatuażami tysiącletniej kobiecej mumii odkrytej na wyżynie Chiribaya (Peru) w Południowej Ameryce. Naukowcy badali dwa rodzaje tatuaży, okrągłe (na ilustracji poniżej) zlokalizowane w okolicach szyi odpowiadały prawdopodobnie miejscom wykorzystywanym w akupunkturze do uśmierzenia bólu. Więcej  Journal of Archeological Science.

Abstrakt artykułu z Journal of Archeological Science.



Different staining substances were used in decorative and therapeutic tattoos in a 1000-year-old Peruvian mummy

"From a 1000-year-old mummy, found unwrapped in the sand of the desert at Chiribaya Alta in Southern Peru, two different kinds of tattoos were investigated: decorative tattoos displaying different animals and symbolic ciphers were present on the extremities and tattooed circles on the neck region.We employed molecular cytogenetic means to determine that the mummy was female.

The tattoos were investigated by light microscopy, various electron microscopic methods and by Raman spectroscopy.

According to electron microscopic analyses the material for the decorative tattoos consisted of aggregates of small round particles with a diameter of some 10 nm as seen by transmission electron microscopy. EEL-spectra reveal mainly carbon. From the fine structure of the spectra it can be assumed that the particles are soot. The dying particles from the neck region however are much larger, showing irregular shapes and sizes. Electron diffraction investigation and Raman spectrometry indicate their organic origin. As these particles show more oxygen and sulfur in the center than in their darker stained border with EDXS, and only weak peaks of carbon with Raman spectrometry, it can be assumed that the tattoo material was probably partially pyrolyzed plant material. This is the first time that two different kinds of tattooing materials were found in one and the same mummy.

The tattoos on the neck region could have had a therapeutic, ritual or protective intention. A possible therapeutic origin may lie in the fact that the circles on the neck lie close to acupuncture points, having a relaxing and pain-relieving effect in the neck and head region".