Celtic Ancient Tattoos

Throughout the rise and during the reign of the ancient Celts they established their culture and traditions through symbols. Having no written word they used instead symbols which they turned into a high form of artwork. Yet their symbols went deeper than that. Celtic warriors in particular were famous for displaying their history, their heritage, their beliefs and their personal qualities in battle through a form of body tattoo.

The highly complex and beautiful tattoos we see adorning modern Celts and others today are made up of spirals, knot work, geometric shapes, crosses and other Celtic artworks. Yet these designs have little in common with ancient tattoos. Tattoos in the ancient Celtic world were mostly restricted to warriors going to battle. Warriors chose their designs carefully and were very personal. Tribal tattoo art takes the form of animals and other symbolic designs. There were perhaps not many swirls, spirals and knot work involved. These designs which are so well known and loved today were derived from the Christian Celts, long after the time of Celtic warriors.

Ancient tribal tattoos are the domain of the Picts who were a group of tribes living in areas of Britain. After about the 11th century they became subsumed under a new term, "The Scots".

Pictish history began being recorded as far back as the Dark Ages at a time when they were not as yet the dominant power in Northern Britain which was at that time controlled by the Gaels. The Picts were farmers who lived in small communities. Their source of wealth was derived from their livestock as well as crops such as wheat, barely, oats and rye.

However the Picts were a fierce and brave nation who loved to fight and they are in fact known for their piracy and raiding expeditions. They were also a religious nation who worshipped nature and other objects around them. They attributed many meanings and accolades to these things and believed that by bearing their images on their bodies during battle they would be able to take on their meaning as well as provide the protection they needed from their gods and goddesses.

Getting a tattoo is certainly not something that is new. People have been getting tattoos for thousands of years. Most people are familiar with the way that tattoos are given these days. Television has popularized tattooing and there have been many documentaries and regular TV programs about tattooing that show have tattoos are applied.

Few people are aware of how tattoos were applied thousands of years ago. Scientists discovered a body in the Swiss Alps that have tattoos on it. Testing revealed that the body was 5200 years old. That is the oldest recorded proof of tattooing. It's unknown why tattooing was done back then but the location of the tattoos suggests that it may have had something to do with medical reasons because the tattoos were on known pressure points.

"Crosses Tattoo"