Ankle tattoos were basically discovered right when tattooing was discovered. We have been talking about how the tech industry is revolutionizing tattoos, but we opened up with a story about Otzi because many of those tech tats, or smart tattoos, are really health based. And Otzi, the ancient mummy, had tons of tattoos that were placed on classic acupuncture points. And, yes, he even had an ankle tattoo. It’s just a few lines, but it proves that this body part has been tatted up way before you ever would have thought!
But, like many pieces, tattoos are ornamental for some people, and ankle tattoos sometimes take on the look of anklets: jewelry just for your ankles. Anklets have actually been around for a long long time. “Barefoot anklets and toe rings historically have been worn for at least over 8000 years by girls and women in South Asia, where it is commonly known as pattilu, payal and sometimes as nupur.
They have also been worn by Egyptian women since predynastic times. In the United States both casual and more formal anklets became fashionable from the 1930s to the late–20th century…Anklets are an important piece of jewellery in Indian marriages, worn along with saris.” Dig that. Humans are totally obsessed with decorating everything, even their ankles.
