The following is a brief excerpt from Tattoo History: A Source Book, by Stephen G. Gilbert now available in print.

Tattoo History Source Book: The Marquesas

by Tricia Allen and Steve Gilbert

Isolated in the immense expanse of the Pacific, some 1200 miles due west of Peru, are 12 volcanic islands known as the Marquesas. About 2,000 years ago they were discovered and colonized by Polynesian voyagers who developed a complex culture rich in oral traditions, folklore and the decorative arts. Elaborate wooden carvings, outdoor temples with huge stone tikis and the art of tattooing were reached a high level of sophistication.

The original inhabitants of the Marquesas knew nothing of the outside world until 1595. In that year four ships carrying the Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendana and his crew sailed west from Peru in search of the legendary land of Ophir. Mendana believed that in Ophir he would find King Solomon's mines, a source of gold which had supplied the building material for King Solomon's temple in Jerusalem.

After sailing for a month, Mendana blundered onto the islands, which he at first mistook for Ophir. But he soon realized his mistake, for they were populated by ornately tattooed savages who knew nothing of King Solomon's Mines. Mendana called the islands Las Marquesas in honor of his sponsor, the Viceroy of Peru, and claimed them as Spanish territory. During their exploration of Las Marquesas Mendana and his crew came into frequent conflict with the natives; by the end of their visit they had killed over 200 Marquesans, including many women and children.

Mendana had no accurate method of determining the longitude of the Marquesas and was therefore unable to define their position on a map. Because they lay outside established sailing routes, they were not rediscovered until 1774, when Captain James Cook stopped for four days to take on food and water. Cook and his crew found little of interest in the Marquesas and left after killing only one native.

During the latter part of the eighteenth century the Marquesas were occasionally visited by explorers, traders, and whalers in need of provisions. None stayed long, but deserters and mutineers sometimes remained on shore until they could be picked up by another vessel. When the Russian explorer Ivan Fedorovich Krusenstern arrived in the Marquesas in 1804 he found two Europeans living among the natives. They were a Frenchman, Jean Baptiste Cabri, and an Englishman, Edward Robarts. Both men had lived in the islands for several years and had been tattooed in the Marquesan fashion. Krusenstern employed them as guides and interpreters, and George Heinrich von Langsdorff, the German naturalist who accompanied Krusenstern, used them as informants when he wrote the first published account of native life and customs.