Mentawai Islands West Sumatra Indonesia
Tribe of Mentawai The world's oldest tattoo
Mentawai people already make tattoos their bodies since coming to the west coast of Sumatra.Proto Malay nation is coming from mainland Asia or Indochina, in the periode Metal Age, 1500 BC-500 BC. so That means, tattooed Mentawai is the oldest in the world. more old then tattoos from Egypt, as was mentioned a variety of books. The name tattoos purportedly taken from the word “tatau” in Tahiti. The word was first recorded by Western civilization in the expedition of James Cook in 1769.
the Mentawai people are tattooing their bodies since coming to the west coast of Sumatra. Proto Malay nation is coming from mainland Asia or indochina in the Metal Age, 1500 BC-500 BC.”That means, Mentawai tattoo was the oldest in the world,”said Ady Rosa, who has 10 years researching tattoos.In the Mentawai. Tattoos are known as titi. In research Ady Rosa, in addition to the Mentawai and Egypt, tattoos are also found in Siberia (300 BC), United Kingdom (54 BC), Haida Indians in America, the tribes of the Eskimo, Hawaiian and Marquesas Islands. This tattoo culture, also found at the interest in Easter Island Rapa Nui, the Maori in New Zealand, the Dayak tribe of Borneo and Sumatra Sumba in the West. For the Mentawai people, a tattoo is the spirit of life. Ady, who in 1992 traced the cultural center in the Mentawai island of Siberut, found at least four positions tattooed there. One notch tattoo is to show identity and difference in social status or profession. Tattoos sikerei shaman, for example, is different with a tattoo expert hunting. Hunting expert known for his images of animals catch, such as pigs, deer, monkeys, birds or crocodiles. Sikerei known from sibalu-balu star tattoos on his body
