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Tattooing Devices

The facial tattoo is an important aspect of Atayal culture. The forms vary and have regional differences. A facial tattoo can mark maturity, physical beauty, the braveness of a man, or the excellence in weaving of a woman, and is a sign for ancestors to identify in the afterlife. It is of deep cultural significance to the Atayal people. This tattoo kit includes hammers, needle sticks, a chalk line, an inkbottle and an ink box. 

 

 

National Taiwan Museum Digitizing Project of Formosan Aborigines  Collections: the Atayal