Tattoo, Tattoos, Free Tattoo Designs, Tattoo Gallery, Tattoo Design, Tribal Tattoos, Celtic Tattoos, Tattoos designs, cross tattoos, tribal tattoo. SEE the world's greatest collection of tattoo designs! Sample FREE Downloads! Cutting Edge Art by Famous Tattoo Artists! YOUR TATTOO DESIGN IS HERE! A tattoo is a marking made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment for decorative or other reasons. Tattoos on humans are a type of decorative body modification, while tattoos on animals are most commonly used for identification or branding. The term "tattoo" or from Samoa, "Tatau" is first referred to by Joseph Banks, the naturalist aboard Cook's ship the "Endeavour" in 1769 where he mentions it in his journal. To paraphrase. he states, "I shall now mention the way they mark themselves indelibly, each of them is so marked by their humor or disposition".