NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 5of the tool and tested them.
They established that the wear
patterns on the used replicas
matched those on the original.
They ran the artifact
through a series of microscopy
and X-ray analyses, revealing
pigment on the cactus spines.
The team dated the tool to be-
tween A.D. 79 and 130, predat-
ing the previous oldest tattoo
implement found in the region
by nearly a millennium.Patterns of History
Archaeologists estimate that
the Turkey Pen site was occu-
pied by the Ancestral Puebloan
civilization between 50 B.C.
and A.D. 200, during the Bas-
ketmaker II period. Somepieces of rock art from this
era depict figures with body
adornment, which some spec-
ulate are tattoos. This tool is
the first solid evidence that
Ancestral Puebloan peoples
practiced tattooing.
The discovery has major
implications for the under-
standing of Ancestral Pueb-
loan practices, as well as for thewider meanings of tattooing.
Elsewhere in the world, tattoo-
ing is associated with agricul-
ture and increases in popula-
tion. The Ancestral Puebloans
were experiencing such a rise
at the time the tool was made,
leading the team to speculate
that tattoos strengthened a
sense of social identity in a
rapidly changing world.HOT FOOD AND
HIGH DWELLINGSTHE ANCESTRAL PUEBLOANS who fashioned the tat-
too tool were part of the Basketmaker II culture. Their
artifacts, dwellings, and artworks have been found
across the American Southwest in Utah, Arizona,
New Mexico, and Colorado. Lasting about a millen-
nium, from 500 B.C. to A.D. 500, the Basketmaker II
period coincides with the transition to agriculture.
The period gets its name from the abundance of bas-
kets found at archaeological sites. These skillfully
woven baskets were often sealed with pine pitch,
making them watertight. The baskets could be used
in food preparation by placing fire-warmed stones
inside to heat food. Later, Ancestral Puebloan peo-
ples began living in cliff dwellings, which still dot the
landscape throughout the Southwest.while excavating the Turkey
Pen site near what today is
Bears Ears National Monu-
ment in Utah. Found among
artifacts in a midden (an an-
cient trash heap,) the little
bundle of spines was boxed up
and stored at Washington
State University (WSU).
It took more than 40
years for scholars to identi-
fy the find. In 2017 Andrew
Gillreath-Brown, a WSU an-
thropology doctoral candi-
date, came across the artifact
and thought he knew what
it might be. He showed it to
Aaron Deter-Wolf, an expert
on ancient tattooing practices.
In the year that followed,
the pair made exact replicas
BRIDGEMANGETTYCOLORFUL BASKETS
(RIGHT) ARE TYPICAL
OF THOSE MADE BY THE
BASKETMAKER II
CULTURE. A CLIFF
DWELLING NEAR
BEARS EARS NATIONAL
MONUMENT, UTAH
(BELOW), IS NAMED
“HOUSE ON FIRE,” FOR
ITS VIBRANT ROCK
FORMATIONS. IT WAS
SETTLED CIRCA A.D. 750.