New research revealed the first figurative tattoo on two Egyptian mummies from the British Museum, including the oldest known female tattoo.

The use of infrared technology has been identified tattoo of a wild bull and another animal with horns (probably chamois) on the arm of the male mummy, while on the upper arm and The shoulders of the female mummy were recognized by linear and "S" motifs. This is the oldest tattoo found in a female individual.

In the figure below, you'll find the left tattoo details seen under the infrared light on his right arm. Below is a mummy and a tattoo under normal light conditions.

Infrared portrayal of male mummy known as Gebelein (© British Museum)

Mummies are dated between 3 351 and 3 017 BC, archaeologists say, suggesting that the discovery overwrites the history of the tattoo.

Daniel Antoine, curator of the British Museum's physical anthropology, said in a statement that "Using the latest scientific methods, including CT scanning, radiocarbon dating and infrared imaging, has changed our understanding of Gebelein mummies. We are only now acquiring new insights about the lives of these remarkably preserved individuals. It's unbelievable that 5 000 Years Shift Evidence of Tattoos in Africa A Thousand Years Back. "

Mummies, which were naturally mummified, belongs to the pre-dynamic period of Egypt, that is, before the unification of the country with the first pharaoh around the year 3 100 BC All the visible skin of these mummified people was examined for the signs of body modification as part of the new protection and research program.

The male mummy known as "Gebelein's Man A" has been on display in the British Museum almost continuously since its discovery about 100 years ago. Experts have noted that previous CT scans showed that Gebelein A was a young man (18-22 years old) who most likely died after being stabbed in the back.

Dark spots on his arm that looked like faded lines under natural light have not been studied in the past. Now, however, thanks to infrared photography, experts have discovered that these places are in fact tattoos of two animals with horns that overlap a little. The animals were identified as a wild bull (long tail, complex horns) and something like a chamois (curved horns, hump). Both animals were well known in preynastic Egyptian art. The sketches are not superficial and have been applied below the surface of the skin, and scientists say the pigment is based on carbon, possibly some kind of carbon black.

Female mummy, known as Gebelein woman has several tattoos; a series of four small motifs in the shape "S" can be seen vertically over her right shoulder. Below them, on the right arm, researchers found linear motif, which is similar to objects that hold people on painted ceramics, taking part in festive activities of the same time.

S-Tattoos on Predynamic Female Mummy from Gebelein (© British Museum)

The application of tattoos to the human body has had a long and diverse history in many ancient cultures. Today, the oldest surviving examples are the geometric tattoos of the alpine mummy, known as the Ötzi (4th millennium BC), whose skin was preserved thanks to the ice of the Tyrolean Alps.

According to carbon dating, Gebelein's tattoos are approximately parallel to Ötzim (3370 - 3100 BC), and can therefore be considered one of the first surviving tattoos in the world.

Scientists claim that these findings convincingly prove that tattooing as an art was practiced during the pre-dynastic period of Egypt (around 4000-3 BC), both by men and women. As the oldest known tattoo motifs, they contribute to the understanding of the possible uses of tattoos at the beginning of ancient Egyptian civilization and broaden our view of the practice of tattooing in prehistory.