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The human body is a remarkably good piece of construction\u2026it has its quirks and shortcomings, but for the most part is a pretty cool thing: functional, durable, and to other humans, attractive\u2026\n\nBut there\u2019s always room for improvements and modifications and decorations\u2026archeologists have found mummified remains that are thousands and thousands of years old that\u2019s sport tattoos\u2026\n\nThere\u2019s a guy named Otzl that was found in the Swiss Alps when a glacier melted\u2026he\u2019d been there for over 5,000 years\u2014and the dude had 61 tattoos\u2026\n\nEgyptian mummies plus pacific islanders, members of ancient African communities, bodies dating to iron age Britain, early Japanese societies, and the Indigenous people of North and South America have all engaged in this kind of body art\u2026\n\nTattoos have also been used to identify prisoners and slaves, to display religious connections, and associations with armies, navies, bikers, and criminal gangs\u2026and for many people tattoos still carry some kind of stigma\u2026only deviants and weirdos got tattoos\u2026\n\nBut that\u2019s changed a lot in the last 60 years\u2014especially since the beginning of the 21st century\u2026tattoos have long gone mainstream\u2026in fact, in some circles, if you don\u2019t have any ink, you\u2019re the outsider and the weirdo\u2026\n\nThis brings me to the world of rock\u2019n\u2019roll\u2026tattoos are everywhere\u2026and almost no one stops with one or two\u2026the last time anyone counted, Travis Barker of Blink-182 has 117 different and distinct tattoos from the top of his head right down to his toes\u2026\n\nWe\u2019ll get to Travis in a bit\u2026but let\u2019s begin with a look at the history\u2014the whole phenomenon\u2014of rock\u2019n\u2019roll tattoos\u2026\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices