Lasers are typically used to remove tattoos from the skin with mixed results. These tight beams of light can also reveal the ink that once decorated 1,200-year-old pieces of mummified skin. Using a newly developed laser technique, an international team of researchers identified the intricate tattoo designs on mummified human remains that date back to Peru’s Chancay culture. The findings are detailed in a study published January 13 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Humorous pottery and complex tattoos
The Chancay culture was a pre-Hispanic civilization that lived in the valleys of present day coastal Peru from about 1000 to 1470 CE. It was likely absorbed by the Inca Empire, when this larger and more powerful group expanded into Chancay land.
Chancay pottery was not particularly ornate and most artifacts are simple black-on-white pieces with colors. Some Chancay vessels also depict humorous scenes. Like the Inca, Ancient Egyptians and some cultures from Europe, the Chancay practiced both tattooing the skin and mummification, which preserved body ink. These tattoos appear to be surprisingly more complex than the designs seen on their pottery.
Mummy meets laser
In the study, the team used a new technique originally developed to study dinosaur fossils called laser-stimulated fluorescence (LSF).
“Our imaging work involved scanning a laser line back-and-forth over the mummified human remains in a dark room,” Michael Pittman, a study co-author and archeologist from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, tells Popular Science. “This caused the skin of the remains to glow in the dark, vividly backlighting the otherwise hidden details of the original tattoo.”
LSF was developed by Pittman and study co-author Thomas G. Kaye from Foundation for Scientific Advancement in Arizona. When applying it to the tattooed and mummified skin, it allowed them to see exceptionally fine-line tattoos with incredibly narrow details. The tattoos depict intricate shapes and geometric designs. According to Pittman, some of the tattoos in the study even exceed the artistic precision that is seen in known examples of Chancay pottery, textiles, and rock art.
“We were most surprised by just how detailed the Chancay tattoos could be,” says Pittman. “The 0.1 – 0.2 millimeter lines we discovered are finer than any line a standard #12 modern tattoo needles can produce, so the level of skill and effort that was required from the Chancay artist really blew our minds.”
[ Related: 1,000-year-old mummy with full head of hair and intact jaw found in Peru. ]
Unknown symbolism
While this study expands scientific understanding of Chancay artistic expression, it raises larger questions about the role of tattoos. These markings may have been used as status symbols or as spiritual emblems.
“The significance of the tattoos we studied is still being actively studied, but in revealing such unexpectedly detailed tattoos, we show that the Chancay went to special lengths to design and produce certain tattoos suggesting that the significance of their tattoos probably varied,” says Pittman.
Applying this laser technique to other ancient mummified remains from around the world could offer more insight to ancient tattoo arts.
“We plan to image other ancient tattoos from around the world using this new technology as we believe it opens up an exciting new frontier to finding other impactful insights into the history of this important artform,” says Pittman.
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