In 1993, Russian archaeologist Natalya Polosmak and her team discovered an ancient tomb on the Ukok Plateau, in the Altai Mountains, near the Russian-Chinese border.

The entire tomb was covered in ice. When archaeologists carefully thawed it, they discovered that it was the tomb of an important person. Inside were six horses and a set of sacrificial harnesses, buried near a coffin made of solid pine.

In the coffin was the body of a young woman, remarkably well preserved. One could even clearly see the tattoos on her skin.

The archaeologists moved the body to Novosibirsk for further studies. The incident caused outrage among the Altai people. They believe that the mummy – also known as the “Princess of the Ukok Plateau” or the “Siberian Ice Maiden” – is the mystical guardian of Altai and a protector against evil forces. Locals believe that the “princess” is the ancestor of the Altai people and must be returned to her burial place.

Was she really a princess?

The woman’s body was carefully embalmed with peat and bark, lying on her side as if she were sleeping. She was young, her hair was shaved but she wore a wig and a tall hat. According to the autopsy, the woman was 1.67m tall. On her pale skin, people discovered some tribal animal-style tattoos. These were horned creatures that evolved into flower shapes.

The coffin was made large enough to accommodate the 90cm long felt hat that the mummy wore. She also wore a long woolen dress with red and white stripes and white felt socks.

This “girl” belongs to the Pazyryk culture. The Pazyryks were a group of nomadic Scythian tribes who lived in the Altai Mountains from the 6th to the 3rd century BC.

But how could she be so well preserved? Somehow, many of the Pazyryk graves in this area were flooded, possibly by groundwater, and then froze. As a result, the remains were preserved with almost no decomposition. During the 20 years that the “young woman” lived in Novosibirsk, scientists studied her body quite thoroughly and published their findings.

The mummified body was buried at least 3 months after her death. During this time, the mysterious woman continued to play a special role in the life of the tribe. For example, she was placed in several chairs after her death, which left marks on the mummy.

At the same time, the complex and time-consuming mummification ritual was a sign of the deceased’s high status. However, scientists deny her “princess” status.

“It is incorrect to call her a “princess”. She is not a princess, she is a representative of the middle class of Pazyryk society,” archaeologist Vyacheslav Molodin, an academician at the Russian Academy of Sciences and husband of Natalya Polosmak, told the Expert-Siberia magazine in 2012.

“The hype around our discovery arose when some event occurred in Altai: elections or earthquakes or a local budget deficit. Immediately, this “lady” was brought to light. Some people believe that all the trouble happened because she was taken to Novosibirsk, not to Altai,” Vyacheslav concluded.

The truth about the “princess”

The tomb of the “Ice Maiden” is not as large and richly decorated as the tomb of the Pazyryk nobles, located in the same area. But what is more important is that it is far from the noble tombs.

In ancient cultures, such a distant burial was reserved for women whose professions required them to remain single. According to scientists, she was probably a healer or a shaman. She inhaled a lot of copper and mercury fumes (determined by chemical analysis), which was most likely related to rituals.

The fumes were certainly harmful to the woman’s health, but they could not have killed her. So how did the Altai girl die?

The mystery was solved only in the 2010s with the help of a CT scan. It showed that the girl had breast cancer, which killed her in about 3 years. At the time of her death, she was 25 years old. DNA research conducted on the remains showed that the girl was genetically closely related to the contemporary Selkup and Ket peoples. These are indigenous Siberian tribes that still live in Russia.

In 2012, the mummy was returned to Altai, but not to the mausoleum. She was taken to the National Museum of the Altai Republic, which celebrates Altaian culture and its distinction from Russia.

In the museum, she is placed in a special room according to the beliefs of the indigenous Altai people and lies in a replica of the coffin in which she was buried. Visitors can see the mummy on certain days. On other days, they can only admire a replica of the tomb when the mummy was first excavated.