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After thousands of years, the rich tradition of body art has been promoted as a form of self-expression as well as a symbol of brotherhood. Looking at the history will explain why this "art noveau" will never truly fall out of style.

In 5000 BC, the Japanese entombed the social elite and their rulers with figurines that were representative of people they wish to accompany them into the afterlife. These miniature representations bore tattoos.

A "caveman" found frozen in a block of ice, who lived around 3300 BC, was found with three sets of tattoos. Although no records exist as to the meanings of the tattoos, archaeologists believe that the bands around his ankle and on his back would have signified his rank in the tribe and the cross behind his knee a familial or decorative tattoo.

Pharaoh Akehenaton's statute from 1400 BC shows that he had a navel piercing. Darker skinned peoples, on whom tattoo pigments do not show well, have often used branding, scarification, piercing and other extreme body modifications in lieu of tattooing. The Mayan culture, for instance, hung metal objects between the eyes of children to make them cross-eyed.

Ceramic vases and pottery have been used to communicate across the millennia. A painted Greek vase, dating from 400 BC depicts the Thracian women as decoratively tattooed. This tradition was part of the courting ritual and the marriage rite. A Moche warrior is depicted with a pierced face on a Peruvian ceramic spout bottle dated from 100 AD.

The first written record of tattooing appeared in 297 AD in China. The text comments that the Japanese men of all ages had designs on their faces and bodies. This negative tone would be repeated for the next 14 centuries.

By 600 AD, Japan had adopted many Chinese beliefs and customs. One such belief was that tattooing was a sign of barbarism and should only be used as a punishment for a crime. Japan's first criminal tattooing occurred in 720 AD for the crime of treason. Other island and South American countries had already adopted the custom of tattooing criminals on the face, wrist, hand or arms. Such tattoos were ostracizing.

In France, Constantine had banned tattooing of criminals at the behest of the Catholic Church, stating that it defiled the temple of the body which was created in God's image. The church would quote Leviticus 19:28, which reads: Ye shall not make any cuttings on your flesh for the dead nor print any marks upon you. In 787 AD, Hadian the First would prohibit tattooing of any

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