The Ukok Plateau in Russia (pictured above) is a stunning, glacier-carved expanse of grasses and water-and-wind-worn hills. Located smack dab at the intersection of Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan, and the Russian steppes, this “crossroad of civilizations” cuts through the modern Republic of Altai and has been home to countless indigenous peoples, ethnic groups, and nomadic tribes going back thousands of years, as Russia Beyond explains. As part of Siberia — the imposing expanse of Russian land that composes 57% of the country’s landmass (also per Russia Beyond) — Altai produces nothing less than the hardiest of people with a deep sense of respect for the natural world.
In short, the Ukok Plateau is the perfect resting spot for the shaman of remote antiquity, the “Ice Maiden.” As The Siberian Times reveals, the Ice Maiden was discovered in 1993 by Russian archaeologist Natalya Polosmak, embalmed and preserved in the permafrost. She was encased in a wooden coffin “in a sleeping position,” head shaved, dressed in Chinese silk and body filled with herbs and roots. In this ritual burial, she was surrounded by six bridled and saddled horses, meals of sheep and horse, ornaments of felt, wood, bronze and gold, and much more. Tattoos of mystical, magical creatures were also inscribed into her flesh.
At best guess, she was buried around B.C.E. 500 when she was between 25 and 28 years old. Her cause of death is unknown, although it wasn’t due to an injury. And since her discovery, she’s become the center of ethno-nationalist controversy amongst the Altaian people.
The Ice Maiden’s tattoos stand at the forefront of her mystery and mystique. Both of her arms, from shoulders to wrists, are covered in swirly designs of magical, four-legged creatures, as The Siberian Times describes. The tattoos on her left shoulder are the best preserved, and Academician Vyacheslav Molodin noted that they include “a deer with a griffon’s beak and a Capricorn’s antlers” and below it “a sheep with a snow leopard by its feet.” There’s also an antlered stag’s head on her wrist and more tattoos on her fingers. They were all done in indigo ink, with the animals’ hair, hooves, horns, and tails unfurling into flower and flame shapes (per The Moscow Times).
As Pazyryk Tattoo Design illustrates and explains on Imgur, these kinds of tattoo designs were cut from felt and soaked in vegetable dye. They were then draped on the skin to curve around limbs. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the figures wouldn’t look out of place in a modern, stylish tattoo studio.
We know that the Ice Maiden was a shaman due to a number of factors. She wasn’t buried with weapons, which means she wasn’t a warrior. She also wasn’t buried with a mate, which indicates that she’d taken a vow of celibacy. Also, as Russia Beyond says, chemical analyses indicate that she periodically inhaled copper and mercury fumes, which points to a ritual ceremony. Plus, she was wearing a tall, 35-inch headdress, and as previously mentioned, her body was filled with herbs and roots.
