Skywizard
4th June 2016, 22:26
Ancient mummy preserved by permafrost dressed up for her debut 21st century
appearance despite calls for solemn reburial from native peoples.
http://siberiantimes.com/PICTURES/FEATURES/CULTURE/PRINCESS-UKOK/tattoo%20on%20hand%20and%20with%20a%20drawing%20of%20dear.jpg
Her body art has won acclaim around the world, and will be visible on her shoulders and fingers
despite a decision to cover her modesty.
The well-preserved 25 year old woman - who probably died from breast cancer - was dug from her
ice-clad tomb in 1993 by Russian archeologists, but this is the first time her remains will be publicly displayed.
Analysis of her body and the artifacts in her elite tomb brought modern scientists unprecedented knowledge of the ancient Pazyryk culture which once held sway in southern Siberia.
Among the remarkable discoveries were 'modern-looking' artistic tattoos on her skin.
The move to display the mummy in the Anokhin National Museum in Gorno-Altaisk is seen as controversial, even though the remains in a specially built sarcophagus will be viewed only twice a week for a maximum of three hours on each day to ensure she is not damaged. Earlier museum officials appeared to give assurances she would not be displayed.
The 'ice princess' will be dressed in a stylised cover made to resemble her real life marmot fur coat, discreetly draped over the mummy, who experts says was an elite member of her ancient culture.
Rimma Erkinova, museum director, said lunar considerations would determine when the mummy - known as Princess Ukok after the plateau where archeologists opened her burial chamber - go will go on display for the first time. 'The Altai people try to do all great things at the time of the new moon,' she explained.
Despite this, native ethnic groups in the Altai Republic have demanded that the tattooed remains should be reburied at the site where they were dug up, warning that a failure to do so will inflict terrible natural disasters on the world.
Detailed scientific analysis has shown that the 'princess' - who lived five centuries before Christ - almost certainly died from breast cancer, and another injury which may have been caused from a fall, probably from a horse, compounded her health problems. She is believed to have taken cannabis to ease her suffering.
Buried around her were six horses, saddled and bridled as her spiritual escorts to the next world, along with a meal of sheep and horse meat.
Archaeologists also found ornaments made from felt, wood, bronze and gold as well as a small container of cannabis and a stone plate on which coriander seeds were burned.
From her clothes and possessions including a 'cosmetics bag', scientists were able to recreate her fashion and beauty secrets. Her head was completely shaved, and she wore a horse hair wig on top of which was a carving of a wooden deer. The ancient woman's face and neck skin was not preserved, but the skin of her left arm survived.
The most exciting discovery was her elaborate body art, which many observers said bore striking similarities to modern-day tattoos.
On her left shoulder was a fantastical mythological animal made up of a deer with a griffon's beak and a Capricorn's antlers. The antlers themselves were decorated with the heads of griffons. The mouth of a spotted panther with a long tail could also be seen, and she had a deer's head on her wrist.
Leading researcher of the All-Russian Research Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (Moscow), Dr Yuri Abramov, said: told: 'We made sure of the absolute safety of the mummy.'
Earlier, Akai Kine, leader of the Teles ethnic group and president of the Spiritual Centre of the Turks, Kin Altai, went to court in a failed attempt to demand reburial of the mummy. Her removal from her burial chamber flouted ancient and local beliefs, he said.
'The dead cannot be disturbed, and especially they cannot be held on public display and carried around the world. After she was dug out, we immediately saw earthquakes, floods, and hail which were not known previously.'
He described her as the White Lady, a priestess guarding 'the umbilical cord of the Earth'. 'She stood as a guard at the gates of the underworld, preventing the penetration of evil from the lower worlds.
Collection keeper Sergey Kireev said Moscow scientists had given approval to display the mummy and also the use of the 'fur' cover. Earlier this year he was quoted saying: 'The mummy will be safely kept in our museum, without going to public display.'
The mummy's lavish grave suggests she was someone of singular importance.
An MRI, conducted in Novosibirsk by eminent academics Andrey Letyagin and Andrey Savelov, showed that the 'princess' suffered from osteomyelitis, an infection of the bone or bone marrow, from childhood or adolescence.
Close to the end of her life, she was afflicted, too, by injuries consistent with a fall from a horse: but the experts also discovered evidence of breast cancer.
'When she was a little over 20 years old, she became ill with another serious disease - breast cancer. It painfully destroyed her' over perhaps five years, said a summary of the medical findings in 'Science First Hand' journal by archeologist Professor Natalia Polosmak.
Source: http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/n0675-2500-year-old-tattooed-ice-princess-wears-fur-to-go-on-public-display-at-next-new-moon/
peace...
appearance despite calls for solemn reburial from native peoples.
http://siberiantimes.com/PICTURES/FEATURES/CULTURE/PRINCESS-UKOK/tattoo%20on%20hand%20and%20with%20a%20drawing%20of%20dear.jpg
Her body art has won acclaim around the world, and will be visible on her shoulders and fingers
despite a decision to cover her modesty.
The well-preserved 25 year old woman - who probably died from breast cancer - was dug from her
ice-clad tomb in 1993 by Russian archeologists, but this is the first time her remains will be publicly displayed.
Analysis of her body and the artifacts in her elite tomb brought modern scientists unprecedented knowledge of the ancient Pazyryk culture which once held sway in southern Siberia.
Among the remarkable discoveries were 'modern-looking' artistic tattoos on her skin.
The move to display the mummy in the Anokhin National Museum in Gorno-Altaisk is seen as controversial, even though the remains in a specially built sarcophagus will be viewed only twice a week for a maximum of three hours on each day to ensure she is not damaged. Earlier museum officials appeared to give assurances she would not be displayed.
The 'ice princess' will be dressed in a stylised cover made to resemble her real life marmot fur coat, discreetly draped over the mummy, who experts says was an elite member of her ancient culture.
Rimma Erkinova, museum director, said lunar considerations would determine when the mummy - known as Princess Ukok after the plateau where archeologists opened her burial chamber - go will go on display for the first time. 'The Altai people try to do all great things at the time of the new moon,' she explained.
Despite this, native ethnic groups in the Altai Republic have demanded that the tattooed remains should be reburied at the site where they were dug up, warning that a failure to do so will inflict terrible natural disasters on the world.
Detailed scientific analysis has shown that the 'princess' - who lived five centuries before Christ - almost certainly died from breast cancer, and another injury which may have been caused from a fall, probably from a horse, compounded her health problems. She is believed to have taken cannabis to ease her suffering.
Buried around her were six horses, saddled and bridled as her spiritual escorts to the next world, along with a meal of sheep and horse meat.
Archaeologists also found ornaments made from felt, wood, bronze and gold as well as a small container of cannabis and a stone plate on which coriander seeds were burned.
From her clothes and possessions including a 'cosmetics bag', scientists were able to recreate her fashion and beauty secrets. Her head was completely shaved, and she wore a horse hair wig on top of which was a carving of a wooden deer. The ancient woman's face and neck skin was not preserved, but the skin of her left arm survived.
The most exciting discovery was her elaborate body art, which many observers said bore striking similarities to modern-day tattoos.
On her left shoulder was a fantastical mythological animal made up of a deer with a griffon's beak and a Capricorn's antlers. The antlers themselves were decorated with the heads of griffons. The mouth of a spotted panther with a long tail could also be seen, and she had a deer's head on her wrist.
Leading researcher of the All-Russian Research Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (Moscow), Dr Yuri Abramov, said: told: 'We made sure of the absolute safety of the mummy.'
Earlier, Akai Kine, leader of the Teles ethnic group and president of the Spiritual Centre of the Turks, Kin Altai, went to court in a failed attempt to demand reburial of the mummy. Her removal from her burial chamber flouted ancient and local beliefs, he said.
'The dead cannot be disturbed, and especially they cannot be held on public display and carried around the world. After she was dug out, we immediately saw earthquakes, floods, and hail which were not known previously.'
He described her as the White Lady, a priestess guarding 'the umbilical cord of the Earth'. 'She stood as a guard at the gates of the underworld, preventing the penetration of evil from the lower worlds.
Collection keeper Sergey Kireev said Moscow scientists had given approval to display the mummy and also the use of the 'fur' cover. Earlier this year he was quoted saying: 'The mummy will be safely kept in our museum, without going to public display.'
The mummy's lavish grave suggests she was someone of singular importance.
An MRI, conducted in Novosibirsk by eminent academics Andrey Letyagin and Andrey Savelov, showed that the 'princess' suffered from osteomyelitis, an infection of the bone or bone marrow, from childhood or adolescence.
Close to the end of her life, she was afflicted, too, by injuries consistent with a fall from a horse: but the experts also discovered evidence of breast cancer.
'When she was a little over 20 years old, she became ill with another serious disease - breast cancer. It painfully destroyed her' over perhaps five years, said a summary of the medical findings in 'Science First Hand' journal by archeologist Professor Natalia Polosmak.
Source: http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/n0675-2500-year-old-tattooed-ice-princess-wears-fur-to-go-on-public-display-at-next-new-moon/
peace...