Megan Gambino explores the history of medicinal tattoos. She talked to Lars Krutak of the National Museum of Natural History about a 5,300 year old mummy discovered frozen in 1991:
The preserved body has a total of 57 tattoos—short lines etched in groups on his lower back and ankles, a cross behind his right knee and two rings around his left wrist. "Incredibly, approximately 80 percent of these tattoos overlap with classical Chinese acupuncture point utilized to treat rheumatism, a medical condition that plagued the Iceman. Other tattoos were found to be located on or near acupuncture meridians [pathways that connect internal organs with specific points located on the skin] that may have had the purpose of relieving other ailments, like gastro-intestinal problems," writes Krutak in his latest book, Spiritual Skin: Magical Tattoos and Scarification, published this fall.
Previous Dish on the history of tattooing here.
The Dish 