Tattoo Archaeology by Aaron Deter-Wolf
Archäologie in Deutschland, 2024
In der Regel bleibt menschliche Haut aus archäologischen Fundzusammenhängen nicht erhalten. Nur i... more In der Regel bleibt menschliche Haut aus archäologischen Fundzusammenhängen nicht erhalten. Nur in extrem trockener, kalter oder sauerstoffarmer Umgebung oder mithilfe von absichtlichen Konservierungspraktiken kann Gewebe Jahrhunderte überdauern. Dennoch gibt es Tausende von Beispielen natürlich oder absichtlich mumi fizierter menschlicher Überreste aus alten und vormodernen Kulturen. Auf Hunderten dieser Überreste wurden Tätowierungen identifiziert, darunter Beispiele aus mindestens 60 archäologischen Stätten auf der ganzen Welt. Diese Funde geben uns wichtige Informationen über die Methoden und Motive, mit denen die Menschen in der Vergangenheit ihre Körper veränderten, sowie einen guten Einblick in die geografische und zeitliche Ausdehnung der Tätowierungspraktiken.
Archäologie in Deutschland, 2024
Das Tattooed Human Mummies Project begann 2016 mit der Erforschung der europäischen Mumie aus der... more Das Tattooed Human Mummies Project begann 2016 mit der Erforschung der europäischen Mumie aus der Kupferzeit, die als »Ötzi« bekannt ist. Diese Arbeit sollte klären, ob der Mann aus dem Eis tatsächlich die älteste tätowierte Mumie ist, die bisher entdeckt wurde. Als Teil der Hintergrundstudie wurde eine Tabelle erarbeitet, in der veröffentlichte Beispiele von natürlich und absichtlich mumifizierten Körpern mit Tätowierungen aus der ganzen Welt aufgeführt waren.
Archäologie in Deutschland, 2024
Tätowieren ist kein neues Phänomen. Die Praxis, Tinte dauerha in die menschliche Haut einzubringe... more Tätowieren ist kein neues Phänomen. Die Praxis, Tinte dauerha in die menschliche Haut einzubringen, ist seit mindestens 5300 Jahren Bestandteil von Kulturen auf der ganzen Welt, wie historische Berichte, archäologische Funde und traditionelles kulturelles Wissen belegen. Auf allen Kontinenten mit Ausnahme von Australien und der Antarktis haben menschliche Gesellschaen Tätowierungen und den Prozess des Tätowierens als Medium genutzt, um ihre Körper direkt und dauerha mit religiösen, politischen und sozialen Systemen zu verbinden.
International conference – Musée de l’Homme (Paris), 2024
(POSTER) Tattoos preserved on naturally and deliberately mummified remains provide an invaluable ... more (POSTER) Tattoos preserved on naturally and deliberately mummified remains provide an invaluable opportunity for studying archaeological cultures. In particular, understanding the specific motifs used in tattooing allows for comparison with other crafts such as weaving and ceramics, and can lead to insights regarding the agency of individual artists, the intent and function of tattoos, and the role of tattooing within immaterial cultural frameworks. Unfortunately there are few or no examples of preserved tattoos from most archaeological societies, and therefore little data available for reconstructing the full iconographic catalog of ancient tattoo traditions. In 2023 our team used digital infrared and DStretch imaging to document preserved tattoos on the remains of ancient Andean individuals dated ca.1000-1470 CE in the collections of the Ethnologisches Museum of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Those 83 individuals from sites along Peru’s Pacific Central Coast comprise one of the largest collections of tattooed archaeological remains documented in any single repository. Through stylistic analysis of thousands of individual motifs, we are able to present the most detailed catalog to date of pre-Columbian Andean tattooing. This effort lays the groundwork for future explorations of the iconography and artistry of this unique regional tradition.
(conference presentation) The Archaeology and Anthropology of Body Modification International conference – Musée de l’Homme (Paris), 2024
The hundreds of tattooed remains recovered from archaeological contexts along Peru’s Pacific coas... more The hundreds of tattooed remains recovered from archaeological contexts along Peru’s Pacific coast provide a unique opportunity to understand the cultural importance and circumstances of Pre-Columbian Andean tattooing. Today many of these remains are held in South American and European museum collections. Largely overlooked by modern scholars until recent years, these remains bear witness to a remarkable tattooing tradition of great cultural importance. Recent research in the collections of the Ethnologisches Museum of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin led to documentation of hundreds of preserved tattoos on at least 83 individuals dated ca.1000-1470 CE. Most of these remains consist of disarticulated limbs collected in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and few retain meaningful contextual data. Nevertheless, through a multidisciplinary approach that incorporates careful interpretation and analysis by archaeologists, researchers, and professional tattooers, we are able to reconstruct important contextual information which provides clues about the identities of these individuals and their role in Pre-Columbian society. Herein we present our efforts to reconstruct the living context of these body parts that belonged to tattooed people focusing on revelations regarding the “who” and “why” of this vibrant tattooing tradition.
Andean Past, 2024
The number of tattoos documented on preserved human remains from archaeological contexts along th... more The number of tattoos documented on preserved human remains from archaeological contexts along the Peruvian Central Coast presently outstrips any other region on Earth. This density likely reflects the unique preservation conditions of the region but also reveals that the practice was widespread and deeply embedded in the pre-Columbian cultural milieu. Examples of preserved tattoos from the region have been described in archaeological literature since the late nineteenth century. Nevertheless, the contemporary understanding of ancient Andean tattooing practices remains fragmentary. There are no definitive identifications of tattooing tools or other associated material culture from any site in the Andes, and there has been little discussion of the method(s) used to create tattoos. Herein we present the results of non-destructive digital imaging of tattoos preserved on pre-Columbian Andean remains in the collection of the Ethnologisches Museum of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (EMB). Analysis of the physical traits of those tattoos demonstrates that during the Late Intermediate Period tattooists on the Peruvian Central Coast marked the skin using both puncture and incision techniques.
The Vessel, 2024
Humans across the globe have tattooed their bodies for at least 5,000 years. However, the archaeo... more Humans across the globe have tattooed their bodies for at least 5,000 years. However, the archaeological evidence for these practices has been largely overlooked. In this essay, archaeologist Aaron Deter-Wolf describes what drew him to the study of ancient tattooing, and how careful considerations of material culture, including artifacts and preserved human remains, are revealing new information about human bodies in the deep past.
https://vessel-magazine.no/issues/7/transforming-bodies/tattoo-archaeology
European Journal of Archaeology, 2024
The Tyrolean ice mummy known as Ötzi presents some of the earliest direct evidence of tattooing i... more The Tyrolean ice mummy known as Ötzi presents some of the earliest direct evidence of tattooing in the human past. Despite decades of study, it remains unclear how the Iceman’s tattoos were created and what tools and methods were used. Popular discussions of the Iceman describe his tattoos as having been made by incision, first cutting the skin and then rubbing in pigment from the surface. The authors review the scholarly literature on the Iceman’s tattoos and summarize ethnographic, historic, and anthropological research on global patterns of tattooing to contextualize the Iceman’s marks within pre-electric tattooing traditions. The results of recent experimental tattooing studies are then compared to the physical signature of the Iceman’s marks to evaluate existing claims and provide informed hypotheses as to how those tattoos were created.
The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Body Modification, 2024
Tools and techniques used to permanently mark skin prior to the introduction of the electric tatt... more Tools and techniques used to permanently mark skin prior to the introduction of the electric tattooing machine have varied widely throughout the human past according to region, culture, and era. Developing an understanding of the broad patterns of these variations, their geographic distribution, and how they connect to macromorphological tool categories is essential for researchers seeking to identify the artifactual evidence of tattooing practices, and may also aid in studying past intercultural relationships. Towards those ends, this chapter draws on a database of ethnographic, ethnohistorical, and anthropological documentation to present an overview of the global patterning and variability of tattooing tools.
The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Body Modification, 2024
Since the late nineteenth century, numerous tattoos have been identified on mummified human rem... more Since the late nineteenth century, numerous tattoos have been identified on mummified human remains from archaeological sites in the coastal deserts of Perú and Chile. In this chapter we examine ancient Andean tattooing practices via an analysis of mummified human remains housed in the collections of four museums in the United States: the Arizona State Museum, the Field Museum of Natural History, the Harvard Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, and the Milwaukee Public Museum. Through documentation of those examples, comparison with published studies, and a reassessment of ethnographic, historical, and archaeological data, we address the evidence for techniques, pigments, and shared iconographic themes from Pre-Columbian tattooing traditions of the region. In addition to sharing previously-unpublished examples of tattooed Andean mummies, this effort provides a foundation for future scholarly documentation and study of ancient tattooing practices in western South America.
Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Body Modification, 2023
The growing popularity of tattooing in modern culture is accompanied by an increased interest in ... more The growing popularity of tattooing in modern culture is accompanied by an increased interest in the practice’s deep past and in identifying evidence of tattooing in archaeological and museum collections. Until recently, most identifications of tattooing artifacts were based on intuition rather than sound cultural comparisons or definitive, replicable data. Recent advances in archaeological science and efforts to contextualize tattooing as a global practice have provided new frameworks for successful artifact identification. This chapter assesses the methods that have been used to identify the material remains of tattooing tools in the archaeological record, ranging from the instincts of investigators to microwear studies, and shows the need for rigorous and comprehensive analyses in studying and discovering tattoo tools in both the archaeological record and curated collections.
Published online, 2023: https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/54436/chapter-abstract/422552916
European Conference of Archaeologists, 2023
Tattooing was a widespread cultural practice among Pre-Columbian societies of western South Ameri... more Tattooing was a widespread cultural practice among Pre-Columbian societies of western South America, reaching back to at least 2500 BCE. Archaeological evidence for these traditions is attested to on the preserved skin of hundreds of mummified individuals found at sites throughout the Pacific coastal deserts of Perú and Chile. Many of these remains made their way into Western museum collections during the 19th and early 20th centuries, and have since remained unexplored by modern archaeological science. This presentation describes research by the authors to catalogue tattooed Andean mummies in European and North American museums. To date our investigations include digital documentation of more than 140 previously-unpublished tattooed mummified specimens. This research, while still ongoing, constitutes one of the largest data sets of preserved, tattooed archaeological remains from any region on Earth, and provides critical new data for assessing body decoration practices in the ancient Andes. Our findings to date show that this phenomenon had a wide distribution in different archaeological cultures of the Andean coastal deserts, including from well-known sites such as Pachacamac, Ancon, and Chancay. This presentation will include observations on the distribution, orientation, and arrangement of tattoos on the human body. 598 We will begin by creating an iconographic catalogue that will show the motifs, patterns, and figures used and their use in other archaeological media such as textiles, ceramics, and wooden objects. This comparison facilitates initial conclusions as to the meanings and cultural roots of this phenomenon. This gives us the first comprehensive insight into an emic conception of the body, corporeality and body modification in the ancient Andes in general, as well as for specific cultures. [Paper presented in session "Body Ideals and Ideal Bodies: Materialities of Aesthetics and Their Social Role in Non-Literate Societies, EAA - Belfast - 01.09.2023]
Cultures throughout the past and across the globe practiced tattooing, as evidenced by marks pres... more Cultures throughout the past and across the globe practiced tattooing, as evidenced by marks preserved on hundreds of mummified human remains. Discoveries of preserved ancient tattoos are very rare, as their survival in the archaeological record requires exceptional preservation conditions. Despite this overall scarcity, preserved remains of tattooed ancient individuals have been recovered from at least 50 archaeological sites across 5 continents. This story map is a visual interface built from the Tattooed Human Mummies Database (DOI 10.6084/m9.figshare.5738439), a global data set identifying naturally- and deliberately preserved tattooed human remains from the archaeological record. The map is updated periodically as new information is published.
*** Citation: Deter–Wolf, Aaron. (2023) Tattooed Human Mummies [ArcGIS story map]. https://arcg.is/0LS89e0. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.19339.05925/2. *** License: CC BY-NC 4.0
Preserved tattoos are present on mummified human remains from archaeological sites across five co... more Preserved tattoos are present on mummified human remains from archaeological sites across five continents, and date back at least 5,300 years before present. Recent scholarship has greatly expanded scientific and popular understanding of the temporal scope and cultural importance of ancient tattooing traditions. However, there remains only limited reliable knowledge as to what tools and techniques were used for creating tattoos in past societies. From 2021-2022 our international research team conducted an experimental study supported by an EXARC Research Award, in which we examined the physical signatures of tattoos created on human skin using different traditional tools and methods. This presentation describes our experiment and expands on that study, applying our findings to examinations of tattoos preserved on the skin of mummies from Europe, Siberia, and South America. Our analyses help illuminate the potential methods used to create these preserved tattoos and correct earlier assumptions regarding tattooing artifacts and methods.
Paper presented at the 13th annual Experimental Archaeology Conference, Torun Poland, 1 May 2023.
Available online via EXARC YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/EAC13_Tattoos
Protocols.io, 2023
Archaeological preservation of intentional skin modifications such as tattoos is rare but can yie... more Archaeological preservation of intentional skin modifications such as tattoos is rare but can yield important insights into the human past with respect to the belief systems, culture, and art of past societies. Tattooing can be briefly described as an invasive process of inserting pigments into the skin with the intention of creating permanent motifs. Preserved tattoos have been identified on naturally and deliberately mummified human remains from archaeological sites of many cultures across the globe, dating back at least 5,000 years before present (Deter-Wolf 2022; Deter-Wolf et al. 2016).
Preserved tattoos on mummified remains are often documented using standard photography. However, taphonomic processes contributing to preservation may darken or shift natural skin color, rendering tattoos indistinct or invisible to the naked eye. Multispectral imaging using specialized camera equipment has been applied with great success to bypass this problem (e.g., Alvrus et al. 2001; Austin and Goebil 2017; Barkova and Pankova 2005; Friedman 2017; Gaber et al. 1995; Hansen et al. 1991; Samadelli et al. 2015; Smith and Zimmerman 1975), but comes with the disadvantage of requiring specialized equipment that, even with the recent increased availability of consumer-grade digital imaging technology, may be prohibitively expensive.
The DStretch® software plugin presents another cost-effective and easy tool to visualize ancient, preserved tattoos. This low-cost software plugin for the open-source image processing and analysis freeware ImageJ© (Schneider et al. 2012) also functions as a stand-alone app for mobile Android and iOS devices. The DStretch® algorithm was initially developed in remote sensing (Gillespie et a. 1986) and was later adapted in 2005 by Jon Harman (2005) for the visualization of faded or ephemeral rock art (e.g., Evans and Mourad 2018; Harman 2015; Gunn et al. 2014; Gunn et al. 2010; Harman 2005), and has subsequently been used on other archaeological subjects (e.g., Emmitt et al. 2021; Gonzales et al. 2019). The program has also recently been used by Anne Austin and colleagues (Austin 2022; Austin and Arnette 2022; Austin and Gobeil 2017) to visualize tattoos preserved on archaeological remains from ancient Egypt and 19th century Europe. The mathematical background of the decorrelation-stretch transformation has been well documented (e.g., Kaur and Sohi 2017; Campbell 1996; Gillespie et a. 1986). However, to our knowledge, detailed descriptions of its applicability, especially with respect to the DStretch® software plugin, are so far widely lacking. Since 2017 the senior author (DG) has experimented with new ways of implementing DStretch® in recording archaeological subjects, including preserved tattoos and bone discolorations (Göldner in preparation), while Deter-Wolf has used the technology to evaluate tattoos on mummified remains from the Andes region of South America (Deter-Wolf et al., in preparation).
This protocol summarizes the results of our work in a reproducible and understandable framework for other researchers to use when visualizing preserved tattoos on mummified remains in both archaeological and museum settings. It represents the first complete guidelines for applying this method, covering image collection and post-processing, decorrelation stretch transformation, and subsequent documentation, including drawings, descriptions, and reconstruction drawings. This protocol can also be used in the same or slightly modified manner for other types of color-decorated objects and specimens and even on colored surface texture files derived from laser- or light-based three-dimensional (3D) scans and photogrammetry (e.g., Gonzáles et al. 2019; Emmitt et al. 2021; Keppler et al. in preparation). With this effort, we aim to establish a standard for visualizations of preserved tattoos using a reproducible and citeable method in order to improve scientific practice in the field of ancient tattoo analysis. We hope that interested scientists will adopt this protocol as a standard for their work in visualizing, identifying, reconstructing, and documenting their findings.
EXARC Journal, 2022
This paper presents the first experimental archaeological study to formally compare the physical ... more This paper presents the first experimental archaeological study to formally compare the physical characteristics of tattoos made on human skin using multiple pre-modern tools and tattooing techniques. Our project used eight tools fashioned from animal bone, obsidian, copper, and boar tusk, along with a modern steel needle, to create tattoos on the leg of co-author Danny Riday. Those tattoos were created through four different traditional, pre-electric techniques consisting of hand poking, hand tapping, incision, and subdermal tattooing. We then documented the tattoos over a six-month period to compare the results. This process revealed clear physical differences between tattoos created using different tools and methods. The resulting data is then used to assess preserved tattoos from archaeological sites in the Andes and Greenland in order to test assumptions about how those marks were created. Open access: bit.ly/EXARC_tattoo or https://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10654
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2021
Analyses of archaeological bone tool assemblages from the southeastern United States rely princip... more Analyses of archaeological bone tool assemblages from the southeastern United States rely principally on morphological classification systems to delineate typologies and infer artifact function. Under these systems the actual purpose of pointed bone artifacts generically classified as “awls” is frequently overlooked. In this study we move beyond basic morphological classification by combining zooarchaeological analysis, technological assessment, use-wear analysis, and materials science studies to examine an assemblage of bone tools from an ancient Native American site in central Tennessee. Our analysis reveals that approximately 3500–1600 BCE, occupants of the Fernvale site employed sharpened turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) bone tools as tattooing implements, and that both red and black pigment remains are directly associated with these artifacts. These materials comprise the earliest directly-identified tattooing tools to date, and demonstrate the persistence of Native American tattooing in southeastern North America over at least three millennia.
Shaman, Priest, Practice, Belief: Materials of Ritual and Religion in Eastern North America, Dec 2019
Ancient Native American tattooing presents an interpretive dilemma, in which archaeologists are f... more Ancient Native American tattooing presents an interpretive dilemma, in which archaeologists are faced with the presence of a widespread and highly-significant cultural practice to which existing artifact typologies --and therefore our interpretive framework for understanding ancient ritual and regalia-- have been overwhelmingly blind. This work builds on previous examinations of bundle traditions from the eastern Great Plains in order to focus on tattoo bundles as a material assemblage, the constituent parts of which may be identified in archaeological settings. Applying this model to the archaeological record of the American Southeast allows a case to be made that Native American tattooing extends to at least ca. 3300 BC, by which time it was already connected with bundle traditions.
You may also download an annotated PDF of this chapter here: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/environment/archaeology/documents/staffpubs/arch_Deter-Wolf%20and%20Peres%202019.pdf
This paper is Open Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.02.015
How people decorate thei... more This paper is Open Access: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.02.015
How people decorate their bodies provides insight into cultural expressions of achievement, group allegiances, identity, and status. Tattooing has been hard to study in ancient societies for which we do not have tattooed mummies, which adds to the challenge of placing current body modification practices into a long-term global perspective. Historic studies document the practice of tattooing among many Indigenous North American groups. While the distribution and complexity of tattoo traditions indicate these practices predate the fifteenth century CE and arrival of Europeans, the antiquity of North American tattooing is poorly understood. During a recent inventory of legacy archaeological materials from the Turkey Pen site in southeastern Utah, we discovered a tattooing implement constructed from a sumac stem, prickly pear cactus spines, and yucca leaf strips. This artifact was recovered in 1972 from an in situ midden but, until now, remained unidentified. The tattooing artifact dates to 79–130CE during the Basketmaker II period, predating European arrival to North America by over 1400 years. This unusual tool is the oldest Indigenous North American tattooing artifact in western North America and has implications for understanding archaeologically ephemeral body modification practices. Events such as the Neolithic Demographic Transition—which occurs in many places around the globe—may link to an increase in body modification practices as social markers, as appears to be the case for the Basketmaker II people in the southwestern United States.
Conference: 42nd Annual Conference of the Society of Ethnobiology, May 10, 2019
Tattoo traditions of Native North America are integral aspects of Indigenous cultural expression,... more Tattoo traditions of Native North America are integral aspects of Indigenous cultural expression, which have been long undervalued by Western scholars. Iconographic evidence suggests tattoo practices dated to as early as AD 1000 in the southwestern United States. However, few tattoo tools have been identified in the archaeological record to date. Therefore, the full temporal span of tattoo traditions in the region is unknown. We recently discovered a unique perishable tattoo tool from the Turkey Pen site, Utah, which dates to the Basketmaker II period (500 BC–AD 500). We present the results of rigorous and comprehensive analysis of the Turkey Pen tool, including scanning electron microscopy, portable X-ray fluorescence, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and experimental tattooing. This tool is the oldest tattooing artifact identified in western North America and provides evidence extending the antiquity of Native American tattooing in the southwestern United States back to the first century AD.
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Tattoo Archaeology by Aaron Deter-Wolf
https://vessel-magazine.no/issues/7/transforming-bodies/tattoo-archaeology
Published online, 2023: https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/54436/chapter-abstract/422552916
*** Citation: Deter–Wolf, Aaron. (2023) Tattooed Human Mummies [ArcGIS story map]. https://arcg.is/0LS89e0. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.19339.05925/2. *** License: CC BY-NC 4.0
Paper presented at the 13th annual Experimental Archaeology Conference, Torun Poland, 1 May 2023.
Available online via EXARC YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/EAC13_Tattoos
Preserved tattoos on mummified remains are often documented using standard photography. However, taphonomic processes contributing to preservation may darken or shift natural skin color, rendering tattoos indistinct or invisible to the naked eye. Multispectral imaging using specialized camera equipment has been applied with great success to bypass this problem (e.g., Alvrus et al. 2001; Austin and Goebil 2017; Barkova and Pankova 2005; Friedman 2017; Gaber et al. 1995; Hansen et al. 1991; Samadelli et al. 2015; Smith and Zimmerman 1975), but comes with the disadvantage of requiring specialized equipment that, even with the recent increased availability of consumer-grade digital imaging technology, may be prohibitively expensive.
The DStretch® software plugin presents another cost-effective and easy tool to visualize ancient, preserved tattoos. This low-cost software plugin for the open-source image processing and analysis freeware ImageJ© (Schneider et al. 2012) also functions as a stand-alone app for mobile Android and iOS devices. The DStretch® algorithm was initially developed in remote sensing (Gillespie et a. 1986) and was later adapted in 2005 by Jon Harman (2005) for the visualization of faded or ephemeral rock art (e.g., Evans and Mourad 2018; Harman 2015; Gunn et al. 2014; Gunn et al. 2010; Harman 2005), and has subsequently been used on other archaeological subjects (e.g., Emmitt et al. 2021; Gonzales et al. 2019). The program has also recently been used by Anne Austin and colleagues (Austin 2022; Austin and Arnette 2022; Austin and Gobeil 2017) to visualize tattoos preserved on archaeological remains from ancient Egypt and 19th century Europe. The mathematical background of the decorrelation-stretch transformation has been well documented (e.g., Kaur and Sohi 2017; Campbell 1996; Gillespie et a. 1986). However, to our knowledge, detailed descriptions of its applicability, especially with respect to the DStretch® software plugin, are so far widely lacking. Since 2017 the senior author (DG) has experimented with new ways of implementing DStretch® in recording archaeological subjects, including preserved tattoos and bone discolorations (Göldner in preparation), while Deter-Wolf has used the technology to evaluate tattoos on mummified remains from the Andes region of South America (Deter-Wolf et al., in preparation).
This protocol summarizes the results of our work in a reproducible and understandable framework for other researchers to use when visualizing preserved tattoos on mummified remains in both archaeological and museum settings. It represents the first complete guidelines for applying this method, covering image collection and post-processing, decorrelation stretch transformation, and subsequent documentation, including drawings, descriptions, and reconstruction drawings. This protocol can also be used in the same or slightly modified manner for other types of color-decorated objects and specimens and even on colored surface texture files derived from laser- or light-based three-dimensional (3D) scans and photogrammetry (e.g., Gonzáles et al. 2019; Emmitt et al. 2021; Keppler et al. in preparation). With this effort, we aim to establish a standard for visualizations of preserved tattoos using a reproducible and citeable method in order to improve scientific practice in the field of ancient tattoo analysis. We hope that interested scientists will adopt this protocol as a standard for their work in visualizing, identifying, reconstructing, and documenting their findings.
You may also download an annotated PDF of this chapter here: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/environment/archaeology/documents/staffpubs/arch_Deter-Wolf%20and%20Peres%202019.pdf
How people decorate their bodies provides insight into cultural expressions of achievement, group allegiances, identity, and status. Tattooing has been hard to study in ancient societies for which we do not have tattooed mummies, which adds to the challenge of placing current body modification practices into a long-term global perspective. Historic studies document the practice of tattooing among many Indigenous North American groups. While the distribution and complexity of tattoo traditions indicate these practices predate the fifteenth century CE and arrival of Europeans, the antiquity of North American tattooing is poorly understood. During a recent inventory of legacy archaeological materials from the Turkey Pen site in southeastern Utah, we discovered a tattooing implement constructed from a sumac stem, prickly pear cactus spines, and yucca leaf strips. This artifact was recovered in 1972 from an in situ midden but, until now, remained unidentified. The tattooing artifact dates to 79–130CE during the Basketmaker II period, predating European arrival to North America by over 1400 years. This unusual tool is the oldest Indigenous North American tattooing artifact in western North America and has implications for understanding archaeologically ephemeral body modification practices. Events such as the Neolithic Demographic Transition—which occurs in many places around the globe—may link to an increase in body modification practices as social markers, as appears to be the case for the Basketmaker II people in the southwestern United States.
https://vessel-magazine.no/issues/7/transforming-bodies/tattoo-archaeology
Published online, 2023: https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/54436/chapter-abstract/422552916
*** Citation: Deter–Wolf, Aaron. (2023) Tattooed Human Mummies [ArcGIS story map]. https://arcg.is/0LS89e0. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.19339.05925/2. *** License: CC BY-NC 4.0
Paper presented at the 13th annual Experimental Archaeology Conference, Torun Poland, 1 May 2023.
Available online via EXARC YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/EAC13_Tattoos
Preserved tattoos on mummified remains are often documented using standard photography. However, taphonomic processes contributing to preservation may darken or shift natural skin color, rendering tattoos indistinct or invisible to the naked eye. Multispectral imaging using specialized camera equipment has been applied with great success to bypass this problem (e.g., Alvrus et al. 2001; Austin and Goebil 2017; Barkova and Pankova 2005; Friedman 2017; Gaber et al. 1995; Hansen et al. 1991; Samadelli et al. 2015; Smith and Zimmerman 1975), but comes with the disadvantage of requiring specialized equipment that, even with the recent increased availability of consumer-grade digital imaging technology, may be prohibitively expensive.
The DStretch® software plugin presents another cost-effective and easy tool to visualize ancient, preserved tattoos. This low-cost software plugin for the open-source image processing and analysis freeware ImageJ© (Schneider et al. 2012) also functions as a stand-alone app for mobile Android and iOS devices. The DStretch® algorithm was initially developed in remote sensing (Gillespie et a. 1986) and was later adapted in 2005 by Jon Harman (2005) for the visualization of faded or ephemeral rock art (e.g., Evans and Mourad 2018; Harman 2015; Gunn et al. 2014; Gunn et al. 2010; Harman 2005), and has subsequently been used on other archaeological subjects (e.g., Emmitt et al. 2021; Gonzales et al. 2019). The program has also recently been used by Anne Austin and colleagues (Austin 2022; Austin and Arnette 2022; Austin and Gobeil 2017) to visualize tattoos preserved on archaeological remains from ancient Egypt and 19th century Europe. The mathematical background of the decorrelation-stretch transformation has been well documented (e.g., Kaur and Sohi 2017; Campbell 1996; Gillespie et a. 1986). However, to our knowledge, detailed descriptions of its applicability, especially with respect to the DStretch® software plugin, are so far widely lacking. Since 2017 the senior author (DG) has experimented with new ways of implementing DStretch® in recording archaeological subjects, including preserved tattoos and bone discolorations (Göldner in preparation), while Deter-Wolf has used the technology to evaluate tattoos on mummified remains from the Andes region of South America (Deter-Wolf et al., in preparation).
This protocol summarizes the results of our work in a reproducible and understandable framework for other researchers to use when visualizing preserved tattoos on mummified remains in both archaeological and museum settings. It represents the first complete guidelines for applying this method, covering image collection and post-processing, decorrelation stretch transformation, and subsequent documentation, including drawings, descriptions, and reconstruction drawings. This protocol can also be used in the same or slightly modified manner for other types of color-decorated objects and specimens and even on colored surface texture files derived from laser- or light-based three-dimensional (3D) scans and photogrammetry (e.g., Gonzáles et al. 2019; Emmitt et al. 2021; Keppler et al. in preparation). With this effort, we aim to establish a standard for visualizations of preserved tattoos using a reproducible and citeable method in order to improve scientific practice in the field of ancient tattoo analysis. We hope that interested scientists will adopt this protocol as a standard for their work in visualizing, identifying, reconstructing, and documenting their findings.
You may also download an annotated PDF of this chapter here: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/environment/archaeology/documents/staffpubs/arch_Deter-Wolf%20and%20Peres%202019.pdf
How people decorate their bodies provides insight into cultural expressions of achievement, group allegiances, identity, and status. Tattooing has been hard to study in ancient societies for which we do not have tattooed mummies, which adds to the challenge of placing current body modification practices into a long-term global perspective. Historic studies document the practice of tattooing among many Indigenous North American groups. While the distribution and complexity of tattoo traditions indicate these practices predate the fifteenth century CE and arrival of Europeans, the antiquity of North American tattooing is poorly understood. During a recent inventory of legacy archaeological materials from the Turkey Pen site in southeastern Utah, we discovered a tattooing implement constructed from a sumac stem, prickly pear cactus spines, and yucca leaf strips. This artifact was recovered in 1972 from an in situ midden but, until now, remained unidentified. The tattooing artifact dates to 79–130CE during the Basketmaker II period, predating European arrival to North America by over 1400 years. This unusual tool is the oldest Indigenous North American tattooing artifact in western North America and has implications for understanding archaeologically ephemeral body modification practices. Events such as the Neolithic Demographic Transition—which occurs in many places around the globe—may link to an increase in body modification practices as social markers, as appears to be the case for the Basketmaker II people in the southwestern United States.
In these essays, contributors describe an emergency riverbank survey of shell-bearing sites that were discovered, reopened, or damaged in the aftermath of recent flooding. Their studies of these sites feature stratigraphic analysis, radiocarbon dating, zooarchaeological data, and other interpretive methods. Other essays in the volume provide the first widely accessible summary of previous work on sites that have long been known. Contributors also address larger topics such as GIS analysis of settlement patterns, research biases, and current debates about the purpose of shell mounds.
This volume provides an enormous amount of valuable data from the abundant material record of a fascinating people, place, and time. It is a landmark synthesis that will improve our understanding of the individual communities and broader cultures that created shell mounds across the southeastern United States.
In this chapter, we step back from the Middle to Late Archaic shell-bearing sites addressed in this volume, and through the application of GIS, broadly examine settlement patterns within the MCRV across three subperiods of the Archaic (Early: 11,500–8900 cal BP, Middle: 8900-- 5800 cal BP, and Late: 5800-- 3200 cal BP). Towards this end, we use common approaches, such as distance to nearest water sources, and a settlement ecological approach, which evaluates the evolving relationship between human occupations and the physical environment. Spatial analyses consist of an “inductive spatial approach to archaeological inference” (Bevan and Lake 2013:20), as we move from fieldwork collected data to evaluating the MCRV dataset and factors that impact the distribution of Archaic sites in the region.
Paper presented in the symposium “In the Service of a Greater Good: Broader Applications of Zooarchaeology in the Era of Interdisciplinary Research.” 83rd Annual Meeting, of the Society for American Archaeology, Washington, DC.
Paper presented in the symposium "In the Service of a Greater Good: Broader Applications of Zooarchaeology in the Era of Interdisciplinary Research." 83rd Annual Meeting, of the Society for American Archaeology, Washington, DC, April 11-18, 2018
Cridlebaugh, Patricia A.
2017 Penitentiary Branch: A Late Archaic Cumberland River Shell Midden in Middle Tennessee. 2nd ed. edited by Aaron Deter-Wolf. Report of Investigations No. 4. Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Division of Archaeology, Nashville.
Southeast.
lack of large quantitative datasets on such sites that allow us to look at long-term occupations. Recent surveys and excavations of shellfish-bearing sites along the Middle Cumberland River in Tennessee have yielded temporal and spatial data that allow us to re-evaluate the role of shellfishing in the lifeways of people occupying these sites from the middle to late Archaic through Mississippian periods.
what we think we know about Archaic Period shell sites is not
sufficient to support such generalizations. By considering the full
range of site use and occupation via radiocarbon assays,
environmental reconstructions, and 100% samples, we develop a more complete understanding of the various activities that took
place at 40DV7 over several thousands of years, and the
implications this data provides for future research on shell‐bearing sites."
Beginning in September of 2007, a collaborative project between the Tennessee Division of Archaeology and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Middle Tennessee State University sought to reexamine the Fernvale site with the goal of completing any outstanding analysis and producing a site report. The resulting monograph is an edited work that presents specialized analysis by multiple contributors, including: Andrea Shea Bishop, C. Brady Davis, Aaron Deter-Wolf, Lacey S. Flemming, Andrew Gillreath-Brown, Shannon C. Hodge, Teresa Ingalls, Tanya M. Peres, Benjamin A. Steere, and Jesse W. Tune.
Paper presented at the 76th annual meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Jackson MS.
Paper presented at the 84th annual Society for American Archaeology meeting, Albuquerque.
No, but in 1845, you could have paid a quarter to see the remains of one who allegedly lived here before The Flood. That summer Middle Tennessee well diggers had unearthed the skeleton of an American mastodon. Before it went on display, it was modified and augmented with wooden "bones" to make it look more like a human being and passed off as an antediluvian giant. Then, like so many Nashvillians, after a little success here, it went on tour and disappeared from history.
But this fake history of a race of Pre-Nashville Giants isn't the only bad history of what, and who, was here before Nashville. Sources written for schoolchildren and the public lead us to believe that the first Euro-Americans arrived in Nashville to find a pristine landscape inhabited only by the buffalo and boundless nature, entirely untouched by human hands. Instead, the roots of our city extend some 14,000 years before Illinois lieutenant-governor-turned-fur-trader Timothy Demonbreun set foot at Sulphur Dell. During the period between about AD 1000 and 1425, a thriving Native American culture known to archaeologists as the Middle Cumberland Mississipian lived along the Cumberland River and its tributaries in today’s Davidson County. Earthen mounds built to hold the houses or burials of the upper class overlooked both banks of the Cumberland near what is now downtown Nashville. Surrounding densely packed village areas including family homes, cemeteries, and public spaces stretched for several miles through Shelby Bottoms, and the McFerrin Park, Bicentennial Mall, and Germantown neighborhoods. Other villages were scattered across the Nashville landscape, including in the modern neighborhoods of Richland, Sylvan Park, Lipscomb, Duncan Wood, Centennial Park, Belle Meade, White Bridge, and Cherokee Park.
The book is the first public-facing effort by legitimate archaeologists to articulate the history of what happened here before Nashville happened.
Vanderbilt University Press
Truths, Lies, and Histories of Nashville, vol. 1
ISBN 0826502156
https://www.vanderbilt.edu/university-press/book/9780826502155
With such a rich and ancient history, one would think a published synthesis of archaeology along the Cumberland River would have occurred years ago. Unfortunately, primary data and site information are found mainly within the “grey literature” -- technical reports, state site files, and field notes -- and no synthesis, or attempt at a synthesis, exists. We offer this special guest-edited volume of Tennessee Archaeology as an effort to highlight the distinct archaeological record of the Middle Cumberland River valley and encourage future scholarship. In this Introduction we offer a description and definition of the Middle Cumberland River valley, a brief overview of the history of archaeology in the region, and highlight the current state of archaeological research and resource management addressed by the contributors to this volume.
****Following an excellent and comprehensive review by Tune et al., the Coats-Hines site is now considered a paleontological locality rather than an archaeological site. The authors of the 2010 paper in Tennessee Archaeology support the findings of this assessment and the resulting site reclassification. Please see:
Tune et al. (2018) Assessing the proposed pre-last glacial maximum human occupation of North America at Coats-Hines-Litchy, Tennessee, and other sites. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.02.018
The Coats-Hines site has not been widely published to date, and consequently the integrity of the site and its potential to yield significant data on the lifeways of the earliest Americans have been largely overlooked by Paleoindan scholars. However, archaeological testing in October, 2010 by the Tennessee Division of Archaeology and Middle Tennessee State University reaffirmed that Coats-Hines contains intact deposits in the form of both Pleistocene faunal remains and Paleoindian artifacts. These deposits are sealed beneath nearly 9 feet of archaeologically-sterile overburden, and have been securely dated through a combination of radiocarbon and OCR analysis. The site maintains its preservation, context, and ability to contribute important archaeological data, and is consequently eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Editors Tanya M. Peres and Aaron Deter-Wolf present a volume that moves beyond basic understandings, applying new methods or focusing on subjects not widely discussed in the Southeast to date. Chapters are arranged using the dominant research themes of feasting, social and political status, food security and persistent places, and foodways histories. Contributors provide in-depth examination of specific food topics such as bone marrow, turkey, Black Drink, bourbon, earth ovens, and hominy.
Contributors bring a broad range of expertise to the collection, resulting in an expansive look at all of the steps taken from field to table, including procurement, production, cooking, and consumption, all of which have embedded cultural meanings and traditions. The scope of the volume includes the diversity of research specialties brought to bear on the topic of foodways as well as the temporal and regional breadth and depth, the integration of multiple lines of evidence, and, in some cases, the reinvestigation of well-known sites with new questions and new data.
“This volume is an excellent resource on the foodways of the southeast and provides fascinating new data, as well as revisiting previously studied sites and analyses of foodways.”
—Renee B. Walker, coeditor of Foragers of the Terminal Pleistocene in North America
“Baking, Bourbon, and Black Drink is a collection of works elucidating—and in some instances integrating—many diverse aspects of diet and cuisines, written by authors who bring a broad range of expertise to the field of archaeology. It is a major contribution.”
—Gayle J. Fritz, professor of archaeology at Washington University in St. Louis
CONTRIBUTORS
Rachel V. Briggs / Stephen B. Carmody / Aaron Deter-Wolf / Thomas E. Emerson / Kandace D. Hollenbach / Megan C. Kassabaum / Scot Keith / Nicolas Laracuente / Kelly L. Ledford / Tanya M. Peres / Thomas J. Pluckhahn / Neill J. Wallis / Lauren A. Walls / Elic M. Weitzel
University of Alabama Press, August 2018
232 PAGES / 6 x 9 / 33 B&W FIGURES / 4 MAPS / 6 TABLES
ISBN 978-0-8173-1992-2 / HARDCOVER
ISBN 978-0-8173-9195-9 / EBOOK
Collection has already contributed significantly to numerous research projects, and will continue to advance research and the understanding of prehistory in Tennessee and the greater Southeast for many years to come.
Das Sonderheft vereint verschiedene Perspektiven auf die wissenschaftliche Untersuchung dieses spannenden Phänomens und gibt einen umfangreichen Einblick in das noch recht junge Forschungsfeld, welches sich mit Tattoos und anderen Körpermodifikationen in der Vergangenheit beschäftigt und trotz seiner zeitlichen Tiefe einen hohen aktuellen Bezug aufweist.