These days, more than 30 percent of Americans sport tattoos—but there’s nothing new about our fascination with body art. As tattoos take over contemporary culture, scientists are looking to the past and uncovering the secrets of centuries-old ink.

For more than 5,000 years, humans have adorned themselves with tattoos. In a new study, researchers used lasers to uncover highly intricate designs of ancient tattoos on mummies from Peru. The preserved skin of the mummies and the black tattoo ink used show a stark contrast — revealing fine details in tattoos dating to around

Researchers used lasers to uncover intricate, hidden tattoos on 13th-century Peruvian mummies, revealing details of ancient body art invisible to the naked eye. View on euronews

Modern tattoo enthusiasts with access to numbing creams and electric machines might not appreciate the painstaking effort that went into body art centuries ago. But researchers have now uncovered a glimpse of this ancient artistry by revealing intricate tattoos on 1,