Lasers reveal stunning tattoo art on 1,200-year-old Peruvian mummies

If tattoos are susceptible to fading within a single human lifetime, imagine the wear and tear on the tattoos of 1,200-year-old mummies.

An international team of researchers has, for the first time, used lasers to detect tattoos on mummies from Peru. Using this technique, detailed on January 13th He studies Published in the magazine With peopleResearchers have discovered beautifully intricate designs, shedding light (literally) on the complex tattoo practices of the ancient Chankai culture. Their findings reveal a higher level of artistic skill in pre-Columbian Peru than previously thought.

Tattooing has been around as a form of artistic expression for over 5,000 years The oldest example belongs to the famous Ötzi the SnowmanWho died in the Alps between Austria and Italy around 3300 BC. However, because ancient soft-tissue remains are rare and because tattoos fade and bleed over time—a condition that clearly worsens as the body decays after death—archaeologists have few opportunities to study this type of ancient art. Chances are, researchers have historically used infrared imaging to analyze the design, which still fails to reveal the finer details of the tattoo, according to the study.

The latest team used a technique called laser-stimulated fluorescence (LSF), which uses lasers to reveal details within soft tissue, to study tattoos on Peruvian mummies. Paleontologists have used LSF for years to study dinosaur remains, according to Science AlertBut this is the first time this technique has been used to analyze ancient tattoos on mummified human remains, and the results have been remarkable.

Thomas J. said: “We’re turning the skin into a light bulb,” said Kay, of the nonprofit Foundation for the Advancement of Science in Arizona, who participated in the study. news agency. In other words, the researchers used lasers to make non-tattooed skin glow in sharp contrast to tattooed skin, even revealing tiny ink designs invisible to the naked eye.

The researchers, including a scientist from the Jose Faustino Sanchez Carreón National University in Peru, studied more than 100 mummified human remains about 1,200 years old belonging to the Chancay culture. The Chancay were a pre-Columbian people who lived along the central coast of modern Peru between about 900 and 1533 AD, according to the study. Now known for their textiles, they were eventually absorbed into the Inca Empire.

Although most of the tattoos found on Chancai mummies were “amorphous spots with ill-defined edges,” some designs had lines between 0.0039 and 0.0079 inches (0.1 to 0.2 inches) thick, the researchers wrote in the study. mm). These details “reflect the fact that each ink drop has been applied by hand with great skill, creating a variety of exquisite geometric and animal patterns,” they added. “We can assume that this technique involved a finer pointed object than a standard No. 12 modern tattoo needle, and perhaps a single cactus needle or sharp animal bone based on known materials available to artists.”

The researchers then compared tattoo designs with other material culture at Chankai, including pottery, textiles, and rock art, and identified tattooing as the “most complex art” found in this culture to date.

“The study reveals higher levels of artistic complexity in pre-Columbian Peru than previously expected, expanding the degree of artistic sophistication found in South America at this time,” the researchers explained.

Perhaps this first successful use of LSF to study tattoos on mummies will lead to the discovery of more ancient designs that will also give modern tattooing a run for its money.