Tattoo information

Who can recommend (a) website(s), or book(s) with extensive information on the history of tattoos, including methods, designs, world-wide, including their original functions in societies, etc etc? It’s for background information for a story I’m thinking about writing later on.

I had been considering getting a large one on my back, as well, but with this barnacle action I have going on I don’t think that would be a good idea.

7 responses to “Tattoo information

  1. Do you have Bug stick-on tattoos in Ye Bug Shoppe?

  2. miguel

    Hm.
    Last time I looked, cafepress.com didn’t offer stick on tattoos, although that’s an excellent idea.
    If anyone gets a Bug tattoo, please send me a picture of it.

  3. kd

    website? book? why not just ask Jessica?

  4. deb

    hi miguel,

    there is a fair amount of information around on Moko, the art of Maori tattooing. Just search for “moko” on Amazon for several books.

    And a couple of websites:
    Ta Moko
    http://www.tamoko.org.nz/

    Sources on Maori Tattooing
    http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/maoritattoo.html

  5. Miguel

    Thank you, thank you. KD, I just didn’t want to bug Jessica right away. Of course she was the first person I thought of.

    What major schools of tattooing are there, Maori, Japanese, who does it in Indonesia, the Bugis? What else? I saw a middle eastern looking woman yesterday, an old woman with blue tattoos around her eyes…

  6. deb

    miguel, there are other polynesian cultures apart from maori which also incorporate tattoo as an important part of their culture – tongan, samoan, tahitian, among others.

  7. catherine

    Our local museum had an exhibition about the history of tatooing last year – here’s the link for a newspaper article about it:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/netnotes/article/0,6729,672394,00.html

    There’s a link in there for the exhibition itself – it sent me round in circles, but you may have more luck with it.