A．a means of ornamentB．a symbol of magical powerC．a way……
TEXT C
Tattoos didn’t spring up with the dawn of biker gangs and rook
’n’ roll bands. They’ve been around for a long time and had many different
meanings over the course of history.
For years, scientists
believed that Egyptians and Nubians were the first people to tattoo their
bodies. Then, in 1991, a mummy was discovered, dating back to the Bronze Age of
about 3,300 B.C. "The Iceman," as the specimen was dubbed, had several markings
on his body, including a cross on the inside of his knee and lines on his ankle
and back. It is believed these tattoos were made in a curative effort.
Being so advance, the Egyptians reportedly spread the practice of
tattooing throughout the world. The pyramid-building third and fourth dynasties
of Egypt developed international nations with Crete, Greece, Persia and Arabia.
The art tattooing stretched out ail the way to Southeast Asia by 2,000 B.C..
Around the same time, the Japanese became interested in the art but only for its
decorative attributes, as opposed to magical ones. The Japanese tattoo artists
were the undisputed masters. Their use of colors, perspective, and imaginative
designs gave the practice a whole new angle. During the first millennium A.D.,
Japan adopted Chinese culture in many aspects and confined tattooing to branding
wrongdoers.
In the Balkans, the Thracians had a different use
for the craft. Aristocrats, according to Herodotus, used it to show the world
their social status. Although early Europeans dabbled with tattooing, they truly
rediscovered the art from when the world exploration of the post-Renaissance
made them seek out new cultures. It was their meting with Polynesian that
introduced them to tattooing. The word, in fact is derived from the Polynesian
word tattau, which means "to mark.".
Most of the early Uses of
tattoos were ornamental. However, a number of civilizations had practical
applications for this craft. The Goths, a tribe of Germanic barbarians famous
for pillaging Roman settlements, used tattoos to mark their slaves. Romans did
the same with slaves and criminals.
In Tahiti, tattoos were a
rite of passage and told the history of the person’s life. Reaching adulthood,
boys got one tattoo to commemorate the event. Men were marked with another style
when they got married.
Later, tattoos became the souvenir of
choice for globetrotting sailors. Whenever they would reach an exotic locale,
they would get a new tattoo to mark the occasion. A dragon was a famous style
that meant the sailor had reached a "China station" At first, sailors would
spend their free time on the ship tattooing themselves and their mates. Soon
after, tattoo parlors were set up in the area, surrounding ports
worldwide.
In the middle of the 19th century, police
officials believed that half of the criminal underworld La New York City had
tattoos. Port areas were renowned for being rough places full of sailors that
were guilty of some crime or another. This is most likely how tattoos got such a
bad reputation and became associated with rebels and delinquents.In Japan, tattoos were accepted as ______.
A．a means of ornament
B．a symbol of magical power
C．a way of communication
D．a sign of success
