Generally speaking, traditional tattoos in tribal cultures often seemed to be created with some sort of meaningful ritual. Doing ritual tattoos is basically bringing that meaning back to the process.” Any tattoo can be meaningful, regardless of whether or not it was done as part of a ritual.

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.