Byard Roger W
School of Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia,
Forensic Sci Med Pathol. 2013 Dec;9(4):534-42. doi: 10.1007/s12024-013-9476-9. Epub 2013 Jul 12.
Tattooing refers to marking of the skin by puncturing and introducing pigmented material. Although it derives from a Polynesian word, tautau, decorative tattooing has been found in most societies over many centuries. The purpose of tattooing has varied from simple decoration, to a marker of social rank, criminal and noncriminal group membership, or a particular rite of passage in tribal communities. Tattooing may be used in medicine to mark areas for radiotherapy, and may occur inadvertently associated with certain occupations such as coal mining. Forensically, tattoos may be very useful in assisting with body identification if facial features or fingers have been damaged or removed. Aspects of a decedent's history may also be deduced from certain tattoos such as military tattoos in service personnel, rudimentary line tattoos with antisocial and anti-police messages in ex-prisoners, and syringes, marihuana leaves or mushrooms in illicit drug users. Tattoos have become more common in recent years in younger individuals in the West and so should be expected to be found with increasing incidence at the time of forensic autopsy examinations. Increasing population movements also mean that less common tattoos may be encountered during forensic evaluations.
纹身是指通过刺破皮肤并注入色素材料来标记皮肤。尽管它源于一个波利尼西亚语单词“tautau”，但装饰性纹身已在多数社会中存在了许多世纪。纹身的目的多种多样，从简单的装饰到社会地位的标志、犯罪和非犯罪群体成员身份的标识，或是部落社区特定的人生仪式。纹身可在医学上用于标记放疗区域，也可能在某些职业（如煤矿开采）中不经意间出现。在法医学上，如果面部特征或手指受损或缺失，纹身对于协助尸体识别可能非常有用。从某些纹身中还可推断出死者的部分经历，比如现役军人的军事纹身、有反社会和反警察信息的前科人员的简单线条纹身，以及吸毒者身上的注射器、大麻叶或蘑菇图案。近年来，纹身在西方年轻人中变得更为常见，因此在法医尸检时预计会发现其出现频率不断增加。人口流动的增加也意味着在法医评估中可能会遇到不太常见的纹身。
