Artifact from Bears Ears region identified as a nearly 2,000-year-old tattoo needle — the oldest ever found in western North America

(Andrew Gillreath-Brown | Courtesy of Washington State University) A tattoo needle that's nearly 2,000 years old — made of cactus spines, yucca leaves and a stick of sumac — was recently discovered among artifacts unearthed in Utah's Bears Ears region by Andrew Gillreath-Brown, a Washington State University archaeology doctoral candidate.