Everlasting Tattoos. Burial gloves from the Chimú culture of Peru, ca. 1200 A.D. The tattoo designs reproduced in gold were meant to physically carry the tattoos and the deceased into eternity. The motifs incorporate iconography of mythological figures and other geometric designs taken from nature. It is believed that such symbols indicate shamanic or apotropaic functions. Similar tattoos have been found on the desiccated skins of Chimú mummies.
