Episode Details
Back to EpisodesMarks That Outlive Us - Tattoos and the Stories We Carry
Description
Tattoos are not really about ink. They are about memory, identity, and the quiet human need to leave a mark.
Across thousands of years, people have chosen to carve meaning into their own skin, sometimes as an act of devotion, sometimes of rebellion, sometimes of control. From the frozen body of Ötzi in the Alps to the courts of kings, from punishment to fashion, from the margins of society to its very centre, tattoos have carried stories that rarely sit still.
But there is a tension at the heart of it all. We are temporary, and yet we choose permanence. We change, and yet we fix moments onto ourselves as if they might last.
So what does it mean to mark the body in a world that never stops moving?
This is the story of tattoos, and what they reveal about us, our fears, our identities, and the strange things we choose to carry.
For books written and published by Keith Hocton