Wolf Tattoo Spiral Shapes

The oldest shape we draw

Before writing, before recognisable pictures in most places, people were carving spirals.

They are cut into the stones at Newgrange in Ireland, made around five thousand years ago and older than the pyramids at Giza. They appear in rock art across Europe, Africa, Australia and the Americas, produced by peoples who had no contact with one another.

Nobody can say what they meant, and the honest position is that they probably meant different things in each place. What is remarkable is that the shape itself keeps being arrived at independently, more consistently than any animal or any human figure.

Something about a spiral is deeply satisfying to draw, and we have not stopped for five millennia.

Curves suit bodies

A practical advantage. Straight lines and right angles fight a curved surface, which is why geometric designs distort on a limb.

Spirals do the opposite. A flowing curved design follows the shape of a shoulder or a hip rather than arguing with it, so it sits naturally in places where an angular design would look forced.

That makes this one of the more forgiving designs for an awkward spot.

The design

9.8 by 6 cm, compact, suiting a shoulder, forearm, hip or ankle.

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