REVIEW Tattoos: forensic considerations Roger W. Byard Accepted: 3 July 2013 / Published online: 12 July 2013 Ó Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013 Abstract Tattooing refers to marking of the skin by puncturing and introducing pigmented material. Although it derives from a Polynesian word, tautau, decorative tat- tooing has been found in most societies over many centu- ries. The purpose of tattooing has varied from simple decoration, to a marker of social rank, criminal and non- criminal group membership, or a particular rite of passage in tribal communities. Tattooing may be used in medicine to mark areas for radiotherapy, and may occur inadver- tently associated with certain occupations such as coal mining. Forensically, tattoos may be very useful in assist- ing with body identification if facial features or fingers have been damaged or removed. Aspects of a decedent’s history may also be deduced from certain tattoos such as military tattoos in service personnel, rudimentary line tattoos with antisocial and anti-police messages in ex- prisoners, and syringes, marihuana leaves or mushrooms in illicit drug users. Tattoos have become more common in recent years in younger individuals in the West and so should be expected to be found with increasing incidence at the time of forensic autopsy examinations. Increasing population movements also mean that less common tattoos may be encountered during forensic evaluations. Keywords Tattoos Á Disaster victim identification Á Gangs Á Yakuza Á Tribal marking Introduction The past few years have seen an increase in the popularity of tattooing in the young with an estimated 10–16 % of adolescents in Western countries now having tattoos, compared to 3–9 % of the general population [1]. Although tattoos were once found predominantly amongst sailors, soldiers and prostitutes [2], this situation has changed with a large number of individuals having tattoos that show considerable variation in style and content. History Tattooing has been practiced for thousands of years with evidence of it occurring in the upper Paleolithic era (38,000–10,000 BC) and from the 11th dynasty of ancient Egypt in the second millennium BC [3]. Mummified and preserved remains from the Bronze Age have been found to have tattoos; an example of which was the body of a man (‘‘O ¨ tzi’’) whose tattooed remains were found in 1991 in the Tyrolean Alps [4]. The possibility of a therapeutic/magical purpose for some of these tattoos was considered, given that several dark blue tattoos were found overlying arthritic areas of the lumbar spine and ankle [5]. In mummified remains the viewing of such tattoos may be enhanced by using infra-red light [6]. Tattooing continued into the Iron Age with complex designs being found in skin retrieved from two Siberian graves dated between the sixth and second centuries BC. The presence of elaborate goods in both of these graves suggested that such tattooing was associated with high social rank. Tattoos in Greek and Roman times, however, indicated the opposite, with tattoos being a marker for R. W. Byard School of Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia R. W. Byard (&) Discipline of Anatomy and Pathology, Level 3 Medical School North Building, The University of Adelaide, Frome Road, Adelaide 5005, SA, Australia e-mail: roger.byard@sa.gov.au 123 Forensic Sci Med Pathol (2013) 9:534–542 DOI 10.1007/s12024-013-9476-9