In the summer of 1993, archaeologist Natalia Polosmak and her team were in Ukok, Siberia, investigating a group of kurgans near the border with Mongolia—burial mounds from the Pazyryk culture created by nomads of Scythian origin who inhabited the Altai massif during the Bronze Age, between the 6th and 2nd centuries BCE.

One day we were visited by the border guard, who helped us choose the mound. Their commander knew all the cemeteries in the area. When I explained that I needed a large and beautiful mound, he said he knew one within reach. That also meant they could protect us. So we went to find this mound, which turned out to be exactly as he had described. We liked it just as much as he did, the archaeologist told the PBS journalist who interviewed her for a documentary broadcast.

When they excavated that mound, they discovered a burial that had been looted, with a stone and wood sarcophagus containing a skeleton and the remains of three horses, and beneath that initial burial they found another, older chamber.

Altai Princess ice Maiden Siberia Scythia
Archaeologist Natalia Polosmak examining the find. Credit: Novosibirsk Institute of Archeology and Ethnography

Water had seeped in through the hole the thieves had made to access the kurgan, flooding that lower chamber and completely freezing it into a large block of ice. For centuries, the Siberian cold kept it intact, and the massive block never thawed, thus preserving everything inside for 2,400 years—until the archaeologists arrived.

In that frozen chamber, they found a sarcophagus made from a larch wood log, decorated with leather deer figures. The coffin was held shut with large nails, heavy copper nails. There were four, two on each side. The nails kept the lid tightly closed and helped retain the water that entered the coffin, said Polosmak. Inside was the mummified body of a woman who had been buried in garments befitting a priestess.

She wore a yellow silk blouse, a skirt of red-and-white striped wool, white felt leggings up to her thighs, a marten pelt, and a headdress nearly a meter long. The interior of the headdress included a wooden frame with eight feline figures carved and covered in gold.

Altai Princess ice Maiden Siberia Scythia
Reconstruction of the costume of the Princess of Altai. Credit: D. Pozdnyakov / Novosibirsk Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences

This headdress is unique. There’s no need to imagine how the various details came together because it was found intact. It was also an expression of the woman’s life. It showed her place in society, her family, and her tribe. Anything worn on the head had to be as tall and eye-catching as possible, and that’s why the headdress was so large. It was, literally, a construction, the archaeologist recalled in the PBS documentary.

Her skin was tattooed with deer figures, and next to her inside the coffin was a polished metal mirror and a stone plate with coriander seeds—perhaps for medicinal use or as a sign that she was a shaman or healer.

Beside the coffin were two small tables on which there were remains of horse and lamb meat, a wooden bowl with yogurt residue, and a horn-shaped cup with an unknown liquid.

Altai Princess ice Maiden Siberia Scythia
The mummy of the Princess of Altai. Credit: Kobsev / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

The Ukok Princess, as she was almost immediately called (also known as the Ice Maiden or Altai Princess), was between 20 and 30 years old at the time of her death in the 5th century BCE, and studies conducted in 2014 revealed that she suffered from breast cancer as well as injuries caused by a fall.

The lavish burial, her garments, and the objects found in her tomb, along with the overall arrangement, suggest she may have been someone very important to her community, likely a shaman or priestess.

For Polosmak, this young woman, buried with such ceremony, with a body covered in tattoos, was not an ordinary member of society. It’s possible she held a special position for having been blessed with a talent valued in that society. She could have been a shaman. She might have had the ability to heal people or predict the weather. It’s also likely that this woman was a storyteller, someone who recited stories and memorized the history and myths of her people. This would have been very important for the Pazyryk, as it is for all non-literate cultures.

Unfortunately, the methods used by researchers to melt the ice and transport the woman’s mummy to the laboratory in Novosibirsk caused most of her tattoos to disappear as the skin deteriorated.

Altai Princess ice Maiden Siberia Scythia
A reconstruction of the princess’s face. Credit: Siberian Times

There was also controversy with local inhabitants, who disapproved of the authorities taking the Ukok Princess, whom they considered Ochy-bala, the heroine spoken of in their traditional stories and legends.

In 2012, she was finally returned to the Republic of Altai, where she is displayed in the Anokhin Museum along with a reconstruction of the burial chamber and its contents. Interestingly, DNA analysis showed that the Princess had little in common with modern Altai populations.

Some researchers believe the Ukok Princess had clearly Caucasian features, while others think she must have had Mongolian characteristics. The facial reconstructions carried out have not been well received in the discovery area, as they are considered too “European.”

Excavations in the Ukok mound have been banned for years, although it is fairly certain that more artifacts remain inside the tomb. Unfortunately, climate change may destroy these remains before they can ever be recovered.

This article was first published on our Spanish Edition on May 9, 2025: La Princesa de Hielo de Altái, el espectacular hallazgo de la tumba de una chamana escita congelada en el tiempo

SOURCES

Siberian Times, Siberian Princess reveals her 2,500 year old tattoos

PBS, Ice Mummies: Siberian Ice Maiden

Siberian Times, Iconic 2,500 year old Siberian princess ‘died from breast cancer’, reveals MRI scan

Wikipedia, Princesa de Ukok

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