The history of tattooing in Africa dates back thousands of years. Until the recent discovery of Otzi the Iceman, the oldest known tattoos belonged to the mummy of Amunet, a priestess of the goddess Hathor somewhere between 2160 BC -1994 BC. With her simple parallel lines on her arms, legs, and an elliptical pattern below her navel, Amunet was the oldest glimpse we know had into tattooing in Africa, and the world. The designs found on her...

Makonde Traditional Methods In traditional Makonde practises for tattooing, the tattoo ('dinembo') ("design" or "decoration") usually requires three or more sessions with the tattoo artist (mpundi wa dinembo) ("tattoo design artist") to produce the correct result. Cuts are made with the traditional tattoo implements (chipopo), the design of which is one of the only major changes in Makonde tattooing practises - the old blade has now...

The history of tattooing belongs to a great many peoples, and as the art travelled across the globe, the styles, methods and meanings were adapted to the various tribes which used the practise of tattooing within their culture. Presently, the art of the Maori Tribal Tattoos|Maori, Polynesian Tribal Tattoos|Polynesian, Samoan Tattoos|Samoans and mesoamerican peoples such as the Aztec are popular and are referred to as 'tribal' in the West, but...