Q 01/05

Which ancient human remains, discovered in 1991, are known for bearing the oldest preserved tattoos?

A) Ötzi the Iceman

B) Tutankhamun

C) Ramesses II

D) The Tollund Man

Answer · why

A) Ötzi the Iceman

Ötzi the Iceman: the hikers who found him took the body for a recent mountaineering casualty, but he died some 5,300 years ago, and his 61 tattoos are...

Q 02/05

The English word 'tattoo', from 'tatau', is believed to have come from which language family?

A) Dravidian

B) Semitic

C) Austroasiatic

D) Polynesian

Answer · why

D) Polynesian

Polynesian tatau, in Samoan, Tahitian and Tongan, gave English its word; before the loanword arrived, the practice had been described in the West as p...

Q 03/05

What is the traditional name for the distinctive style of Japanese tattooing?

A) Sumi-e

B) Ukiyo-e

C) Irezumi

D) Katagami

Answer · why

C) Irezumi

Irezumi: the word literally means 'inserting ink'; because the style became tied to the yakuza, many Japanese public baths, gyms and hot springs still...

Q 04/05

Who patented the first electric tattoo machine in 1891?

A) Samuel O'Reilly

B) Lew Alberts

C) Charlie Wagner

D) Martin Hildebrandt

Answer · why

A) Samuel O'Reilly

Samuel O'Reilly: the tattooer reworked an Edison invention so that its motor drove inked needles, and added a tube and an ink reservoir to feed them.

Q 05/05

In pharaonic Egypt, tattooing appears to have been practised almost exclusively on which group?

A) Pharaohs

B) Women

C) Warriors

D) Scribes

Answer · why

B) Women

Women: nearly all the tattooed mummies found there are female, among them the priestess Amunet; a Cairo doctor argued in 1898 that the dotted patterns...