In 3000 BC, at the end of the Stone Age, a man aged around 45 or 46 died while walking near the present-day border between Austria and Italy. He lived south of the Alps, near Lake Garda, in what is today called northern Italy. This ancient man is called Ice Man and he has some of the earliest known tattoos. Ice Man has tattoos of stripes and crosses in "strategic body locations" (Othmar), such as his calves. Although his tattoos are invisible to the naked eye, through infrared photography the Iceman was discovered to have 57 bands in 16 groups as well as a large and a small cross-shaped mark in different places in his body where physical stress could cause it. pain (Othmar). Throughout history, references to permanent markings have appeared. They were discovered on the bodies of people who lived thousands of years before our era. There have been figurines decorated with what were probably the tattoos of the time, and tattoos are all around us today. Although tattoos have been around almost since the beginning of human history, the way they have been used and whether tattoos are seen in a positive or negative light has changed with each culture. In ancient cultures, people believed that tattoos had magical meanings. or healing powers. Kitamura mentions a historical book about Japan that talks about the discovery of clay figurines from the Jōmon period (10,000 BC – 300 BC) (Kitamura). The clay figurines found were covered in designs that were probably tattoos from that era. In 1948, the body of a Scythian living around 550 BC was found in Siberia. He had very detailed tattoos of mythical animals that covered his limbs and torso. ...... middle of paper ...... uh. Internet. November 3, 2011.Kitamura, Takahiro. Floating World Tattoos: Ukiyo-e Motifs in Japanese Tattooing. Leiden: Hotei Pub., 2003. Print. Kosut, Mary. “An ironic fashion: the commodification and consumption of tattoos.” Journal of Popular Culture 39.6 (2006): 1035-1048. Premier Academic Research. Internet. November 3, 2011. Lineberry, Cate. "Tattoos; the ancient and mysterious history." Smithsonian Magazine. November 9, 2011. Othmar, Gaber and Karl-Heinz Künzela. “Experimental gerontology:” The man from Hauslabjoch. " ScienceDirect - Home. November-December 1998. Web. November 3, 2011. Sanders, Clinton R. and D. Angus Vail. Personalization of the Body: The Art and Culture of Tattoo. Google Scholar. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1998 Print. Thomas, Nicholas, Anna Cole and Bronwen Douglas Tattoo: Bodies, Art and Exchange in the Pacific and the West: Duke UP., 2005..