The History of Tattooing
Ancient Times
Bronze Age - The Ice Man - The Scythians
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The Iceman:

In 1992, at the very border of Austria and Italy, high up in the Alp Mountains, the body of a man was found, and as they realized that he was more than 5000 years old, they realized they had found a sensation. He had been under ice for all those years, so his body, clothes and equipment was extraordinarily well preserved.

He was tattooed! In all 58 tattoos has been counted on his body. His tattoos were only simple dots and little lines.

That he was tattooed, was of course not a coincidence. It was probably totally normal for people at his time to be tattooed.
Since the tattoos does not represent anything - like animals and the like, speculation has been made as to their meaning. The truth will never be found, but theories and speculations will be made!
The Iceman as he was found high up in the mountains.

 
The Iceman's back.
The circle shows a part of the photo far left, so the tattoo lines can be seen better.
Pictures from the book: Paul G.Bahn: The Story of Archeology,
Weidenfeldt & Nicholson, 1996