氣質姐與可愛可

本期音檔

　Tattoos1 are often seen on sailors, bikers2, and gang3 members, but now, they are not just connected with people with something to prove. Instead, they have become popular with ordinary people. In fact, people all over the world have been marking their bodies with tattoos for thousands of years. The earliest known tattoos were found on several female Egyptian mummies4 from around 2000 BC. However, scientists discovered in 1991 AD that the art of tattooing is much older. Otzi the Iceman, who was found in the Alps between Italy and Austria, had tattoos from 5,200 years ago.
Cultures around the world have been practicing tattooing for many reasons. Ancient Egyptians tattooed women to protect them before and during child birth. Ancient Britons used tattoos as marks of religion or high status. The most famous were the Picts. They tattooed images of beasts5 in blue to give themselves those animals' spirits and power during battle. Ancient Romans, Chinese, and Japanese marked criminals6 and slaves with tattoos. For most tribes7 in Polynesia, tattoos were used to indicate a person's status, tribe, and abilities. For the Maori of New Zealand, each design was unique and like an ID card on a person's face. Tattoos were also common in Taiwan. The people of the Atayal tribe tattooed both young men and women's faces as they became adults.

　　我們常常會在水手、重機騎士及幫派份子身上看到刺青，但現在人們不再只會把刺青跟那些需要證明自己的人們聯想在一起。相反地，刺青在一般人之間已日益流行起來。事實上，世界各地的人們在身上用刺青作標記的作法已流傳了好幾千年。最早為人所知的刺青是在西元前2000年左右一些埃及的女性木乃伊身上所找到。然而科學家在西元1991年則發現刺青藝術的歷史其實更久遠。在奧地利及義大利之間的阿爾卑斯山脈中被發現的冰人奧茨，身上更擁有從五千兩百年前就留下的刺青（編按：冰人奧茨是於阿爾卑斯山脈奧茨塔爾山冰川所發現的一具因冰封而保存完好的天然木乃伊，身上有多處紋身）。　　一直以來，世界各地的文化都為了諸多原因實行著刺青這項習俗。古埃及人在女性身上紋身是為了讓她們在生產前及生產過程中受到保護。古代英國人把刺青當作代表宗教信仰或崇高身份地位的符號。而最有名的則屬皮克特人（編按：皮克特人是於西元十世紀前、居住在如今英國蘇格蘭地區的原住民）。他們會在身體刺上藍色的野獸圖像，用以在戰爭中賦予自己那些動物的精神與力量。古羅馬人、中國人及日本人則會在罪犯及奴隸身上刺青。在玻里尼西亞大部分的部落裡，刺青是用來表明一個人的身份地位、所屬部落及專長能力。就紐西蘭的毛利人而言，每個刺青圖樣都很獨特，就像是一個人的臉上刻著一張身份證。刺青在台灣也很常見。泰雅族的人會在年輕男女成年時在他們的臉上刺青。