i know cave man must have had them they did the art on the wall before they did them on selfs.king tut had one that said mummy while i was in china i got my tattoo on my wrist with by a chinese guy useing a stick with some thing like toothpicks on end and a little wooden mallet.i guess that is old school tattooing and some still do it here today.i did my first one on my self with a neddle,thread and indian ink just to get the pratice