Re: Substrates in Latin and Germanic

>Ponder the following:
>Would the fact that some society marks some enslaved members with a >certain type of tatoo stop others from getting other tatoos?

Of course there are lots of varieties for such reasons. The article
on tattoo at en.wiki contains many examples, hints and links.
(And 3 or 5 dots there on the hand, without triangles, is a common
sign for inmates.)

But in the case of those Scythian permafrost mummies the
tattoos are far too artful, boastful, proud; the bearers
were perhaps warrior chieftains or members of some group,
"gang", "caste".

Whereas those tattoos on slaves in Greece and the Roman
empire must have been some simple signs, I suppose (since I
don't know how they looked like).

>I also saw recently on TV (National Geographic channel, I believe)
>a Russian inmate of a prison camp state that Russian criminals
>after appr. 1980 choose a more narrative style of tatoos instead
>of the old school one of tatoos with fixed significance.

The wiki-article contains a brief description and lists of those
stigma habits.

(And don't we forget tattoos representing tribal identification
signs/symbols, practise e.g. in Africa, incl. Maghreb countries.)

>Flensburg style point system? ;-)

Yes; which was sharpened last week by the current federal minister
(a conservative Bavarian).

>His last meal being composed of so many strange herbs has meant it
>was interpreted as a sacred Henkersmahlzeit. To me it looks more
>like he was on the run when the enemies of the ancien regime
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grauballe_Man#Life
>'His hands were smooth and did not show evidence of hard work,
>indicating that Grauballe Man was not employed in hard labour such
>as farming.[4]' caught up with him.

I also find interesting the other hypotheses presented in the
german version of the article:

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grauballe-Mann

i.e., that he might have been a member of the upper class,
possibly ritually sacrificed; or perhaps seen as "possessed" by
who knows what demons, since his stomach content showed he
had hallucinations caused by a poisoning with Claviceps purpurea,
the ergot fungus that grows on cereals; => ergotism.

Wikipedia:

"It is also known as ergotoxicosis, ergot poisoning and Saint
Anthony's Fire. Ergot poisoning is a proposed explanation of
__bewitchment__."

George