A 5,300-Year-Old Mummy Was The Earliest Known Human With Tattoos, And Now, Researchers Have Finally Figured Out How The Markings On His Skin Came To Be

They found that “the physical structure of the Iceman’s tattoos, including stippling, line widths, rounded ends, and diffusion of pigment along the edges, are all strongly evocative of puncture tattooing using a single-point hand-poke tool.”

So, the new tattoos that were drawn on with the hand-poking method were the most similar to Ötzi’s, making it the technique that he most likely used.

Furthermore, the tattoos that were created with a bone point or a copper awl generated the most accurate results.

The most commonly identified artifacts from the Copper Age are copper awls. These tools have often been uncovered in the region where Ötzi’s body was found.

Previously, they were interpreted as weaving or leatherworking instruments. However, as the study shows, the ancient tools may also have functioned as tattooing needles.