The art of tattooing is not a new or modern practice. On the contrary, tattoos have been around since the end of the Stone Age, if not earlier. Otzi the Iceman, a man who lived roughly 5300 years ago, was discovered frozen and well-preserved in a glacier. He exhibited approximately 57 tattoos on his body. Other mummies preserved from Ancient Egypt also exhibit tattoos on their bodies.

Tattooing has been practiced by many different peoples and cultures around the world. The early inhabitants of Scotland were called "Picts," meaning "tattooed or painted people." Julius Caesar described the Picts' blue-toned tattoos in his account of the Gallic Wars of 58 B.C.E. Meanwhile, in Japan, tattooing is thought to date back to the Paleolithic era, some ten thousand years ago.
Today, the popularity of tattoos in the Western world is thought to have originated in the 18th Century. At that time, European sailors returned from Polynesia with tattoos similar to the ones they'd seen there.
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Which sentence from the passage supports the idea that tattoos crossed culture barriers by way of imitation?
A.
"Julius Caesar described the Picts' blue-toned tattoos in his account of the Gallic Wars of 58 BC."
B.
"Tattooing has been practiced by many different peoples and cultures around the world."
C.
"At that time, European returned from Polynesia with tattoos similar to the ones they'd seen there."
D.
"Other mummies preserved from Ancient Egypt also exhibit tattoos on their bodies."

1 answer

The sentence that best supports the idea that tattoos crossed culture barriers by way of imitation is:

C. "At that time, European sailors returned from Polynesia with tattoos similar to the ones they'd seen there."

This sentence indicates that the European sailors adopted tattoos they saw in Polynesia, showcasing the idea of cultural exchange and imitation.