Tattooing is one of the oldest forms of body art. The impetus to decorate and adorn is essentially a human characteristic and is something that people have always done. For many people the designs and symbols of adornment can hold great meaning. Similar designs can be found across cultures but their meaning can be significantly different. Within cultures the meaning of certain designs can change across time.

Tattoo involves puncturing the skin with a sharp instrument and inserting pigment through the outer layer, the epidermis, into the second layer, the dermis. Tattoos are intended to be permanent; only recently have expensive laser techniques allowed people to remove them. Tattoo patterns and techniques have varied with different cultures. Traditional Polynesian tattooists tap a needle with a small hammer, while the Japanese work with bundles of needles set in wooden handles. In the West, the electric tattoo machine has revolutionized tattooing, expanding the ease of application and the range of colors and designs. Besides being decorative, tattoos send important cultural messages: a commitment to some group, an emblem of a rite of passage, even a fashion statement. Tattooing has been used to indicate high rank in some societies, rebellion and low status in others. Despite numerous religious and social injunctions, tattooing has been a popular form of body art throughout the world.
Although tattooing is a popular form of self-expression, the practice can involve potential health risks.

No one knows when the practice of tattooing the skin began, but Egyptian mummies dating back to 1300 B.C. have shown evidence of blue tattoo marks. Tattooing is accomplished by injecting colored pigment into small deep holes made in the skin. Regardless of who injects the pigment - a tattoo artist or an untrained person the marks or designs are relatively permanent. For various personal reasons, people turn to physicians to have tattoos removed. Fortunately, there are several methods for tattoo removal which have proven successful.

Tattooed markings on skin and incised markings in clay provide some of the earliest evidence that humans have long practised a wide range of body art. The written accounts of early European explorers also attest to the elaborate and widespread nature of tattooing in various parts of the world, providing an insight into traditions that had their origins deep in the past.

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