Page 16 - An Introduction to Laser Tattoo Removal

Chapter 2 – Fundamentals of Laser Tattoo Removal v1.0
Section 2.1 Tattoos, inks and the skin Introduction to tattoos and their history
Tattoos are essentially the result of ink particles being forced into the skin, by various techniques. They have been around for thousands of years – a famous case is ‘Ötzi the Iceman’. He was believed to have been a warrior living in the Ötztal Alps between modern-day Italy and Austria in the Copper Age, around 5,300 years ago.
There is also evidence of body tattoos in Saharan wall paintings going back as far as the 5th millennium BC. However, the true origins of tattooing are not known, nor where they first appeared. It is likely tattoos were first displayed as ‘tribal’ markings, to show the prowess of warriors. Religious markings were also popular through the ages indicating allegiences with Christianity, Judaism or Islam. Interestingly, these three religions also banned tattoos at various points in history, then subsequently recanted. Even Moses was alleged to have banned them!
All over the world tattoos were used to highlight criminals and condemned men. This habit continued to modern times particularly in Japan. In fact, prisoners in Japan often preferred punishment by prison rather than a permanent tattoo, which would have followed them throughout their lives.
Many famous people throughout the ages have ‘owned’ tattoos, including many Anglo-Saxon kings of England. King Harold, who was defeated in the Battle of Hastings in 1066AD, famously had a tattoo bearing his wife, Edith’s, name over his heart. She identified his badly damaged corpse after the battle with that tattoo!
Various rulers of Europe and Russia also owned tattoos, including George V, Tsar Nicolas II, Kaiser Frederick III and George I of Greece. Many were tattooed by a famous artist of the day, George Burchett who was dubbed ‘The Tattooist of Kings’. He had been trained by a Japanese master – Hori Chuyo – in Japan and became the ‘go to’ guy for European nobility and the upper classes (read more in Maurice Adatto’s excellent book – ‘Living Skin’ – published by Editiones Roche, 1993).
The three main protagonists of the Yalta Conference, after the second World War finished bore tattoos – Teddy Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin were all well-known for their tattoos. Another US president, Andrew Jackson, also reportedly had a tattoo of a large Tomahawk axe on his inner thigh (although this may just be an urban legend!).
More notoriously, John Wilkes Booth – who assassinated Abraham Lincoln - had an India Ink tattoo of his own initial on his hand, which he ‘scratched’ into himself as a boy. Unfortunately, for him this was used to identify him in the aftermath of his assassination.
Thomas Edison was also known to bear a tattoo of an image known as a ‘quincunx-four dots’ – like the number five as displayed on a dice cube. In 1876 Edison filed a patent for an ‘electric pen’ which was designed to cut stencils to allow for the creation of multiple copies of any document. This pen utilised a small motor to drive a needle up and down the shaft of the pen ________________________________________________________________________ 16
Chapter 2 LEVEL A Laser Tattoo Removal
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