During periods of a ban it seems to go underground until such time it is free to resurface. It appears that tattooing will never really go away. Tattooing has gone through its ups and downs over the centuries, has even been banned many times in different cultures for periods of time.
In western Asia, girls were marked in such a way as to show their place in society. This communicated their rank as marriage material. They would mark themselves to show what they were skilled at, such as weaving or a gatherer of medicinal herbs. Take the women from Borneo.
Women from various cultures tattooed their bodies for a variety of reasons. Not so. One may think the art of tattooing has its history mainly with men. It’s not really known how long tattooing has been around but it’s quite Egyptians practiced the art of tattooing.