page_title: History of tattooing
section_title: United States Navy
hierarchical_section_title: History of tattooing / Militaries from around the world / United States of America / United States Navy
caption_attribution_description: Much tattooed sailor aboard the USS New Jersey.
context_page_description: Tattooing has been practiced across the globe since at least Neolithic times, as evidenced by mummified preserved skin, ancient art and the archaeological record. Both ancient art and archaeological finds of possible tattoo tools suggest tattooing was practiced by the Upper Paleolithic period in Europe. However, direct evidence for tattooing on mummified human skin extends only to the 4th millennium BC. The oldest discovery of tattooed human skin to date is found on the body of Ötzi the Iceman, dating to between 3370 and 3100 BC. Other tattooed mummies have been recovered from at least 49 archaeological sites, including locations in Greenland, Alaska, Siberia, Mongolia, western China, Egypt, Sudan, the Philippines and the Andes. These include Amunet, Priestess of the Goddess Hathor from ancient Egypt, multiple mummies from Siberia including the Pazyryk culture of Russia and from several cultures throughout Pre-Columbian South America.
context_section_description: The United States Navy has changed its policies and become more lenient when it comes to tattoos. For the first time the navy is allowing sailors to have neck tattoos as long as one inch. Sailors will also be allowed to have as many tattoos of any size on the arms, and legs as long as they are not deemed to be offensive tattoos.
caption: USS New Jersey (1944).
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