30 years ago, two hikers stumbled across a body while hiking in the Utsil Alps.

Authorities arrived quickly, evacuating the corpse by helicopter and taking it for forensic testing.

It wasn't uncommon in these parts to lose mountaineers to the peaks,

but when they unzipped the body bag, what the scientists saw was something different,

and something better than they could ever have hoped for. They christened the body Utsi,

after the mountain range where they found him. Utsi was a perfect specimen, having been safely cocooned in snow and

ice for over 4,000 years. Over time, those scientists would learn more about his final hours,

piecing together clues from the contents of his stomach, his weapons, and an arrowhead lodged

in his back. It became evident that they had a murder mystery on their hands.

But before you think this is just another true crime story,

I want to point you to something else that was also interesting.

Utsi, you see, was special for another reason.

His skin was decorated with over 60 lines and crosses,

largely concentrated on his spine,

knees, and ankles. Lying right there, prone on their table, was the world's oldest tattooed mummy. For years, the Western world has been debating the merits of tattooing, but these

days we know more than ever before,

and the past is telling. Today, our knowledge of tattooing history stretches back to the 5th century

BC. Tattooing has spanned the globe. In the case of the ancient Greeks, they were used to communicate

spy messages, and the Maya, Inca, and Aztec peoples used them for rituals.

The Norse and Saxons tattooed their family crests.

During the Crusades, a cross tattoo indicated the desire for a proper Catholic burial in the event of death.

Tattoos were used as protective charms among ancient Egyptian women and both as medicine and to mark

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