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It Belongs in a Museum!

Mummified Siberian Princess Found Covered in Impressively Preserved Tattoos

by Alanna Bennett | 2:00 pm, August 21st, 2012


The mummified remains of “Princess” Ukok, as the scientists named her, was discovered nearly twenty years ago in the Altai mountain range in East-Central Asia. Kept for all that time in Novosibirsk, Russia, it was not until very recently that she’s been revealed to the rest of us. But among the general wonder and fascination that always comes with finding mummified and ancient bodies, Princess Ukok has another: She’s covered in remarkably preserved, completely badass tattoos.

People have been tattooing themselves and each other for almost as long as humanity has existed; it just seems embedded in human nature to adorn our bodies in one way or another, whether through cheap drugstore eyeshadow or ancient ritual inking.

From Buzzfeed:

Princess Ukok and her warriors are believed to be members of the Pazyryk nomads who existed as early as the 5th century BC when they were described by the Greek historian Herodotus.

Buried with Ukok, who died around the age of 25, were a meal of sheep and horse meat and six horses with bridles perhaps meant to escort her to the next world and most definitely evidence of her status in her tribe. From what knowledge has survived of Pazyryk culture, we know the tattoos were a from of identification, like a driver’s license, meant to make it easier to find your family members after death.

Elena Shumakova of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography drew some beautiful reconstructions of the tattoos that cover the bodies of Princess Ukok and her warriors.

 

And the Princess herself, tattoos and braid and all.

(Buzzfeed via I Heart Chaos)

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  • http://zadl.org/ Captain ZADL

    nifty!

  • Anonymous

    Lovely.
    Though I have to point out that the torso with tattoos shown at the top of the post belongs to a male warrior found in the same area. The fact that both men and women shared so many similar traits is seriously awesome though.

  • Anonymous

    Welp, I recon I know what I’ll be handing the tattoo artist for inspiration for my next tat!

  • Anonymous

    That is seriously cool. I love articles like this!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=588799288 Cindi Cardinale

    Wow, truly amazing.

  • http://www.thegeekandinkwell.com/ Michelle

    She sounds like a real-life Khaleesi. :) And her tattoos are beautiful.

  • http://twitter.com/tweetingstassia Anastassia

    Ha ha! Khaleesi was my first thought, too. Badass. They stylized ibex? Ram? (3rd photo down) is particularly cool.

  • Carmen Sandiego

    I think I’ve finally found a design I could commit to. :)

  • Anonymous

    I love how the skeleton’s all like “Hai guys, wassuppp!”

  • Anonymous

    I bet those skeletons when they were alive were the basis of the Amazon’s Legend…

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