Everyone say, "Pazyryk"

Discover the story behind the oldest known tattoo found on a woman, inspired by a 2,400 year old Scythian tattoo.

Written byCarl Zimmer
| 1 min read
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Kate writes:

"I thought I'd send you a photo of my tattoo. I guess it fits into the 'anthropology' category although I'm actually a vet (I've seen exactly one deer in a professional capacity since I graduated). It's a copy of a tattoo found on the Pazyryk mummy, a 2,400 year old Scythian, possibly a shaman. I've heard that it's the oldest known tattoo found on a woman, but I'm not sure whether that's correct. It was done to celebrate the end of a 1, 200 mile walk from John O Groats to Land's End back in 2002. I've heard of other people with it, but haven't seen any, so I'd be interested to find out if any of your other readers have the same one. Not as cool as some, but I like it!"

Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium.

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