Albanian traditional tattooing

Albanian tattoo patterns: 19th century (top), early 20th century (bottom). They are symbols of the Sun (Dielli) and the Moon (Hëna); the cross (also swastika in some tattoos) is the Albanian traditional way to represent the deified Fire – Zjarri, evidently also called with the theonym Enji.^[1]

Tattooing among Albanians is a long-standing tradition that has been practiced since Illyrian times, kept alive in the mountainous areas of the western Balkans.^[2] Traditional tattooing has also been practiced by Catholics in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Dalmatia (Sicanje), and by women of some Vlach communities (in the western Balkans).