Tribal Tattoo Designs: Where the Past and the Present Meets
Back in the 70-s of the 20th century the world of tattoos was enriched by tribal tattoo designs. Curved and fascinating, they are nevertheless simple in their patterns and color scheme – they are usually monochrome and done in black. Original tribal tattoos were not merely copied by people but also new designs, different from the traditional ones, were drawn. The latter are called neo tribal tattoos.
In the past tribal tattoos were used to show to identify separate groups of people called clans. There were lot of tribes and each had its own traditions and its own pattern of tattooing. Nowadays we mostly speak about Maori, Hawaiian, American Indian, Incan and Aztec tribal tattoos but there were a lot more tribes on Earth. That’s why many of us will recognize a tribal tattoo but very few will say to which tribe it belongs.
Modern people can name a lot of reasons to get a tattoo, but still they would be different from that of ancient people. Clan identification was important not only “just to show off” but in the battle field tattoos made easier it to differentiate between friends and enemies.
Another reason for tattooing was to show a social status. For instance, married coupled had the same tattoo done to show that they are inseparable. This tradition remained till present time. Also boys used to wait their coming of age when their legal adulthood was marked by tattooing and they were allowed to take part in hunting and fighting. Meanwhile, those who didn’t endure pain of tattooing could share the fate of outcasts from society.
For our ancestors stayed in constant contact with forces of nature and worshipped them, tribal tattoo designs incorporate sun, moon, stars designs with a peculiar styling. Though abstract forms were most widespread.
Tribal tattoo designs can be authentic ( were used by actual tribes that may be extinct now); the adaptations of original designs; and custom tribal tattoos that can be drawn even by everyone using templates available on the Internet.
Tribal Tattoo Designs: Where the Past and the Present Meets is a post from: Tattoo designs and ideas by Tattooique
