Easter Island

An Island in the South Pacific where tattooing was practiced, also known as Rapa Nui.

Discovered on Easter Sunday 1772 by the Dutch explorer Roggeveen, hence the name. The island is the eastern most of Polynesia. Rapa Nui is famous for its prehistoric stone statues, the back of which some bear detailed designs used in tattoo motifs by the islanders. Supposedly settled by travelers from the Marqueses Islands, tattooing did not reach the heights it did in the Marqueses. Their faces were tattooed, as well as the buttocks, back thighs and arms.