The Face of the Ukok Princess (Artistic Reconstruction)

Buried in the Ukok Plateau near the border of China in the 5th century BC and found in 1993, this "Siberian Ice Maiden" or "Ukok Princess" died in her early 20&emaciated and sickly from what scientists have determined to be an advanced progression of breast cancer in addition to a preexisting case of osteomyelitis, which caused random bones in her body to become infected and painful. Her clan, the Pazyryk, treated her with great care and reverence throughout her sufferings, never abandoning her to her illness as she traveled with them. A severe fall, probably from her horse, damaged her right temple, shoulder, and dislocated her hip which left her bedridden until her death a month or two later. Though it seemed she was not directly of royal status, she was nonetheless buried in a style which would be considered worthy of royalty. It has been conjectured since that the Ukok Maiden in her illness was regarded as a female Shaman, and the altered state of mind and consciousness caused by the various herbs and opioids used to treat her pain perhaps were seen by her people to grant her special powers and visions. The now famous and often copied mythical creatures tattooed upon her arms and hands give weight to this theory. ARTIST NOTES: The Pazyryk people have some genetic ties to Asia, however remote, and there are hints of this in the bone structure and culture. As the Pazyryks have since been classified as being of Scythian origin, which includes Eurasian (specifically...