Archaeologists find world’s oldest human bone tattooing kit

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. The intricate, multi-toothed tattooing tools were found on Tongatapu Island - Tonga's main island. Radiocarbon dating found them to be around 2,700 years old, making them the oldest confirmed tattooing combs found in Oceania. The presence of a likely ink pot originally discovered with the tools in 1963, which was documented at the time but is now missing, also makes the find the oldest complete tattooing kit to be discovered anywhere in the world. Associate Professor Geoffrey Clark of The Australian National University (ANU) School of Culture, History & Language said the discovery sheds further light on the long-running debate about where Polynesian style tattooing first developed. "These bone tattoo combs are a very specific type of technology found across Oceania," Associate Professor Clark said. "The question has always been were these tools introduced to the Pacific through migration, or were they developed in Polynesia where we know tattooing has a very prominent role in society and spread from there.