A statement of identity

Walking upright also freed the hands for new possibilities of tool manufacture, communication and the exploration of bodies. It affected the torso, allowing the lungs and diaphragm to make more complex sounds.

English archaeologist Timothy Taylor believes language developed about 1.6 million years ago, with the human ancestor Homo erectus, “and with it the first declarations of love, both sincere and insincere”. He also believes the first clothing was likely to have been invented at this time, perhaps to “conceal or enhance the genital region and therefore extend conscious control over bodily expressions”.

About 1.6 million years ago Homo erectus began dominating the world, harnessing fire, cooking both meat and tubers and making the first hand-axes - stone tools thought to have been used as symbols to attract the opposite sex.

The readiness of Homo erectus to invent and adopt “culture”, along with improved nutrition and the stimulation resulting from conquering new lands, led to a significant increase in brain size and a growing human-like intelligence.

Homo erectus were great voyagers, venturing far out of an original African homeland into north and south-east Asia. Between 800,000 and 900,000 years ago their technology allowed them to cross great expanses of sea successfully, even colonising the island of Flores on Australia’s doorstep.

Throughout this period, and perhaps much earlier, human ancestors were attracted to bright, colourful stone and other unusual natural objects. For instance, the earliest evidence of mined ochre dates to 900,000 years ago.

Some archaeologists believe bright materials were used in sexual and other display, by both sexes from an early era, and that these substances were the subject of competition, negotiation, and even monopolisation. If pigments were used in this way, they were most portable if applied to the body. Indeed, it is quite probable brightly coloured pigments began to be applied to the body soon after hair loss.

Unfortunately, most body art is made of perishable material, such as flesh and bone, and does not preserve well. But about 200,000 years ago, evidence of body art suddenly becomes more apparent in the archaeological record.

Not only was ochre widely used but also perforated pendants were worn. As well, engraved pieces of animal bone with connected double arc and other geometric designs - suggestive of body painting, scarification and tattooing - have been recovered from many sites.

Given that scarring from natural causes or injury probably became frequent with body hair loss, it is quite possible scarification as body art began with Homo erectus, up to 1.6 million years ago when many other cultural practices and innovations were adopted. Tattooing would have begun more recently, as skin became lighter in some regions and as new tools, inks and paints were discovered.

However, the earliest evidence is from relatively recent times. Importantly, some of the earliest mummies and preserved human bodies from South America, Europe, Africa and Asia have tattooing and or purposely made scars. Ötzi, the Iceman of the European Alps, for instance, died about 5,000 years ago. When he was found in 1991 tattoos could still be seen on his legs and along either side of his spine.

Tattooing is, however, something more common to light-skinned peoples; scarification is the equivalent for those with darker skins. But tattoos and scars often serve similar functions, signalling an individual’s social position, status, sexual readiness or availability and degree of initiation or knowledge attainment. They tell both friends and foe how one should be treated, as well as defining for oneself how to act in certain situations.