Archaeologists have, for the first time, identified what appear to be tools used by the ancient Maya for tattooing, according to a report in Nature. The discovery includes a pair of chert points found alongside human skeletons in a cave in Belize, which may represent the first known tattooing needles from a site linked to the Maya civilization.
The tools were discovered at Actun Uayazba Kab cave in Belize's Roaring Creek Valley. Archaeologists investigating the site found two elongated pieces of obsidian with sharp points, alongside jade beads and tattooing tools, suggesting the site held ritual importance. The obsidian artifacts date to between CE 250 and 900.
James Stemp at Keene State College in New Hampshire and his team analyzed two fragments of stone discovered in the late 1990s in the cave. They announced the discovery of two burin spalls—or stone flakes—believed to have been used by the ancient Maya for tattooing. The fragments analyzed by Stemp's team were coated with pigment and then used to puncture skin, leading the study authors to speculate that they may have been used to create "puncture tattoos."
Microscopic analysis determined that the obsidian artifacts had wear patterns consistent with repeated use on skin. Observing the microscopic pattern of use-wear on the burin spalls, the researchers noted that these markings are "clearly consistent with what would be expected on chert tools used on meat, skin, and fresh hide given comparisons with experimental and archaeological tools."
To further their hypothesis that the items were used for tattooing, the study authors used a replica spall to create a puncture tattoo on fresh pig skin. They stated that fresh pig skin "is recognized as the best biological proxy for human skin." The use-wear pattern left on the experimental spall was consistent with those on the two ancient tools found in the cave. This consistency "provides additional support for the use of these artifacts as tattooing tools."
Microscopic analysis also detected traces of black pigment on the artifacts, possibly from soot-based ink. The researchers wrote, "Although the chemical composition of the residues is unknown, it is conceivable that they are traces of soot-based inks like those reported in the ethnohistoric literature."
The researchers believe the obsidian artifacts were used to pierce the skin to create permanent tattoos. The presence of jade beads and obsidian blades alongside tattooing tools supports the hypothesis of religious or ritual significance in Mayan tattooing. They also believe that the puncture tools may have been purposefully and ritually broken and deposited in the cave as an offering.
Historical accounts and Mayan imagery, along with reports from Spanish conquistadors, indicate that the Maya used tattoos for social and ceremonial purposes. Communities like the Mopan Maya sported tattoos on their breasts and penises, among other body parts. According to Spanish historical accounts, tattoos were seen as symbols of bravery for young men and symbols of beauty for women among the Maya. The images in Maya tattoos often depicted animal figures such as bats, eagles, or snakes.
Until recently, no tattooing tools had ever been found in Maya archaeological sites. No examples of preserved tattooed skin have ever been recovered from ancient Maya sites, but a pre-Hispanic mummy from the neighboring Toltec culture has been found with tattoos on her arms.
Puncture tattoos, sometimes called "hand/stick-poked tattoos," are created by applying pigment to the tip of a needle in order to directly insert it into the skin. This tattooing technique is thought to have been the most common method of creating tattoos prior to the invention of modern electric tools. The technique was also used to decorate the skin of the prehistoric mummy Ötzi the Iceman.
The study was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.