The first tattoos began accidentally—early man rubbed ash or soot from a fire into cuts and injuries to sterilize a wound. Tattooing became a rite of passage and soon evolved into a magical art.This here is a mummified hand and the head of a woman from the pre Inca Chiribaya culture, located at the Azapa Museum in Arica, Chile, is adorned with facial tattoos on her lower left cheek.