A groundbreaking study has illuminated intricate tattoos on 1,200-year-old mummies from the Chancay culture of Peru, revealing the artistic and cultural sophistication of this pre-Hispanic civilization. Using laser-stimulated fluorescence (LSF), a noninvasive imaging technique, researchers have uncovered details previously invisible to the naked eye or blurred by time.
The Chancay civilization, which flourished on the central Peruvian coast between 900 and 1500 A.D., is renowned for its artistic legacy, spanning pottery, textiles, and, more recently, tattoos.The tattoos were discovered on mummies excavated in 1981 at the Cerro Colorado cemetery. Their designs include geometric patterns, vine-like motifs, and an enigmatic animal figure with a curled tail.
Michael Pittman, a paleobiologist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and lead author of the study, explained the significance of the discovery: “We were shocked by just how fine the tattoo lines were in our L.S.F. images,” he told The New York Times. The tattoo lines, measuring only 0.1 to 0.2 millimeters in width, are finer than those created by most contemporary tattoo needles.
The LSF technique, previously used in paleontology to study dinosaur fossils, exposes specimens to high-powered lasers, causing them to fluoresce. This glow highlights details of tattoos on both the surface and deeper layers of the skin, revealing the original designs despite centuries of fading and ink bleeding. “This helped us to see past the bleed accumulated over the lifetime of the tattoo’s owner,” Pittman told New Scientist.
Tattoos played a vital role in Chancay society, though their exact meanings remain a mystery. Some designs mirror those found on Chancay pottery and textiles, suggesting a cultural continuity across different forms of artistic expression. “Many of the designs, geometric patterns featuring triangles and diamonds, are shared in their other artistic media,” Pittman also explained to New Scientist.
The tattoos likely held cultural or ritualistic significance, marking individuals with special status or roles. Kasia Szremski, an archaeologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, noted that such body art often denoted societal distinctions. “In many societies, tattoos are used to mark people with special status,” she told Live Science.
The study proposes that the tattoos were likely made using a fine-needle technique, potentially employing cactus needles or sharpened animal bones. This claim has sparked debate among experts. Aaron Deter-Wolf, an archaeologist specializing in ancient tattoos, suggested that the markings may have been made by incising the skin and rubbing pigment into the cuts rather than puncturing it with a needle. “Depending on the tool that they’re using, you will get a different physical signature as a result,” he told The New York Times.
While Deter-Wolf acknowledged the novelty of using LSF on tattoos, he questioned whether it offered significant advantages over existing methods, such as multispectral imaging. Nevertheless, he conceded that LSF adds a valuable tool to the archaeologist’s repertoire.
Despite ongoing debates, the study underscores the complexity and craftsmanship of ancient tattoos. These designs highlight the artistic abilities of Chancay tattooists, whose work required immense skill and precision. Szremski emphasized the importance of revisiting museum collections with new technologies, telling Live Science, “While we still don’t know what these tattoos mean, their intricate nature does tell us that the Chancay had tattoo artists!”
The findings not only deepen our understanding of the Chancay culture but also provide a broader lens into humanity’s artistic development. As Pittman and colleagues wrote in their study, LSF has the potential to uncover similar milestones in ancient tattooing practices worldwide, pushing the boundaries of our understanding of early body art.
