Tools in world’s oldest tattooing kit made from human bone
Channel: Griffith University
Date: 2019-03-04

Researchers have uncovered the world’s oldest known tattooist’s kit – and among the most startling conclusions is that two of the four tattooing tools found are made from human bone. 

Dr Michelle Langley, from Griffith’s Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, worked with Associate Professor Geoffrey Clark, from ANU’s College of Asia and the Pacific, to study the intricate, multi-toothed tattooing tools found on Tongatapu Island - Tonga’s main island. 

Radiocarbon dating of the tools found them to be 2700 years old, making them the oldest confirmed tattooing combs found in Oceania.