Piercings and tattoos have a long history in many cultures and serve both aesthetic and cultural purposes. Piercings involve drilling holes in the body to insert jewelry and can cause infections or nerve damage if not done properly. The earliest evidence of piercings comes from 709 BC Egyptian hieroglyphics depicting a man being pierced by his wife. Tattoos involve inserting pigment under the skin to change its color and have been practiced since Neolithic times, with some mummies dating tattoos back 7,000 years. Both piercings and tattoos were used in tribal cultures as forms of cultural expression and religious symbols that could last a lifetime.