The Princess of Ukok

The Princess of Ukok is a mummy of a woman from the 5th century BC, found undisturbed and in spectacular condition in 1993 in a kurgan in Republic of Altai, Russia. She is among the most significant Russian archaeological finds of the late 20th century. Buried around her were six horses, saddled and bridled, her spiritual escorts to the next world, and a symbol of her status.

Her tattoos are said to be best-preserved, and most elaborate, ancient art ever found.

The Ice Maiden was buried in balm and bandages in a chamber built of larch logs. Her organs were removed and her body stuffed with grass and wool, and placed in a wooden coffin. Water flooded her tomb helping to freeze her and preserve her remains. Her head had been shaved and her hair replaced with a wig that was draped with a tall wooden head-dress, decorated with carved cats and swans. It is extremely rare to find a woman buried alone in such a tomb.

When she was around 20 years old, she became ill with breast cancer. It eventually killed her. She was very high status and was buried in a separate mound, rather than a line of family tombs. Locals claim that her presence in the burial chamber was ‘to bar the entrance to the kingdom of the dead’. By removing this mummy, the elders contend that ‘the entrance remains open’. Today she rests in a specially-built museum in the city of Gorno-Altaisk, capital of the Altai Republic.

She belonged to a tribe called the Pzyryks, close relatives of the Scythians.