One of the most famous archaeological finds of the 20th century is the frozen burial of the Altai Princess or Princess Ukok, after the name of the plateau in the Altai Mountains, where she was discovered. The "age" of the mummy is 2.5 thousand years. Thanks to the natural freezer, organic matter has been preserved to our time - all the contents of the burial were found in the form in which it was left in antiquity. Mummy tattoos especially attracted attention. After the Pazyryk finds, it became especially clear that tattoos were literally typical for the entire ancient world.
We know that people painted the body with paint - an echo of this ancient custom, for example - tilaks, the sacred signs of Hinduism. The culture of many peoples who have preserved ancient customs to this day testifies to the traditions of applying drawings on the body with paints, as well as the application of tattoos.
For me, these ancient tattoos were a discovery in the sense that body tattooing could become the prototype of many jewelry pieces. Different parts of the body had a certain meaning when applying a tattoo. For example, the main symbol of the tribe was usually applied to the shoulder - this is how the same or similar symbols are applied among the Pazyryks. This is a kind of coat of arms, citizenship and passport. I noticed that in ancient times, great importance was attached to bracelets on the forearm, in India it is called bajuband and it is still one of the obligatory jewelry for the bride. An example of the anatomical essence of the symbolism of a tattoo is the connection of the thumb with marriage symbols. But now it’s not about that, it’s about the tattoos and jewelry of the Altai princess.
The mummy was discovered during excavations of a mound in the south of Altai, on the Ukok plateau in 1993 by archaeologist N. Polosmak. It seems to me that there is some kind of mysticism in the fact that it was a woman archaeologist who found it. Maybe treasures and treasures really know who to open to ... The mummy belonged to a 25-year-old woman quitetall (above 165 cm) close to the Caucasoid type.The remains of 6 sacrificial horses were also found there. This alone already indicates a rather high status of a woman. A woman was buried with a high headdress (the length of the burial deck takes into account the height of a woman with a headdress on), gold jewelry and items quite valuable for these places were found, such as a silk shirt (from China or India) or coriander, which was used as incense.
Reconstruction of the burial, museum in Gorno-Altaisk
Pieces of meat from the funeral meal, clothes and a wig of a woman (the mummy was bald and it is not known whether this was a funeral tradition or a custom at all), items made of leather, fur and wood, herbs used as stuffing have been preserved. The colors have survived - we know that the inhabitants of Ukok preferred red, white and black.The ancient culture to which the cemetery belongs is known as the Pazyryk culture ( V-III centuries BC ), she is attributed to the Altai Scythians. Existed on the territory of Russia (Gorny Altai),Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China.
Anthropological reconstruction - Tatiana Balueva
The mummy is widely known under a variety of names - it is also called Ochy-bola, Ak-Kadyn (White Lady) and so on. Passions still boil around her, she is surrounded by a large number of superstitions, legends, conjectures and political battles, despite the fact that this is not the only such find related to the Pazyryk culture. But the Altai princess appeared from oblivion really spectacularly and not alone - but together with a revived fragment of her world. But not all secrets were revealed. She belonged to the nobility of the Pazyryk society, but somehow differed from the rest. Until wewe know who she was.
PAZYRYK TATTOO
Hermitage scientists, on the advice of criminologists, photographed the mummies found in 1949 by the archaeologist Rudenko in reflected infrared rays - thus it was discovered that all Pazyryk mummies had tattoos.It is known that tattoos (scarring) were also on the body of Ötzi, an ice man discovered three years before the princess - in 1991 in the Alps. The age of the Ötzi mummy is more than 5 thousand years. Perhaps this circumstance also played a role in the assessment of Pazyryk tattoos.
Among the drawings on the Hermitage mummies there are both carnivores and ungulates,real animals that lived in Altai (tigers, mountain sheep, ibexes, horses, argali, roe deer) and unknown here (kulans). Among the images -fantastic creatures - ungulates with a bird's head, predators with wings and many birds. So far, it has been proven thattattoos were worn by all adult Pazyryks, regardless of gender and social status.
So, here are the three most famous Pazyryk tattoos.
The tattoos were copied by E.V. Shumakova, and their graphic reconstruction also belongs to her. The drawings were published in the book by N. Polosmak "Riders of Ukok and other publications. N. Polosmak owns the work "Tattoos among the Pazyryks","Purple and gold of millenniums", "Birds in the tattoos of the Pazariks", in the book by L.L. Barkova and S.V. Pankova about tattoos and others, from which I got most of the information about the tattoos of the Altai princess and the Pazyryks. Almost all links lead to texts of academic publications, you can read them.
The first mummy of a man with a tattoo was found in 1948 by S.I. Rudenko in the Second Pazyryk mound - a man of the Mongoloid type, about 60 years old, who is usually called a leader in the literature. The tattoo covered the arms, upper back and lower legs. The mummy is kept in the State Hermitage. Other mummies and frozen burials were found, but in the late 50s after the war it did not cause such a strong world resonance as the discovery of the Altai Princess (in fact, I call her that for convenience and brevity).
On the body of the leader, the tattoo on the right half of the body is best seen. On the right arm from shoulder to wrist are depicted six fantastic animals with upturned hind legs and long branched horns. A fish is depicted on the right leg from the patella to the ankle. On the chest is a tiger with a spirally twisted tail. On the left hand are two deer and a mountain sheep in a jump. The images are made in a special artistic manner, in the so-called Scythian-Siberian "animal" style. They convey images of individual animals and scenes of predators attacking ungulates ("torturing scenes").
A man has several dots along his spine, which could mean their therapeutic purpose - to heal by applying magical signs to the skin. These signs, tattooed on the back and ankles of a man, can be interpreted as points of reflexology.
A particularly characteristic symbol among the Pazyryks is a deer with a "twisted" body, with a griffin's beak and a long cat's tail, at the end of which a griffin's head is depicted; outgrowths of huge stylized horns also end in bird heads with a griffin's beak. Winged predators of the cat family are also characteristic. A tattoo on a fragment of a mummy's skin is exhibited in the Hermitage.
Tattoo on the right hand of the leader. Gorny Altai, Pazyryk tract, valley of the river. Big Ulagan. The second Pazyryk burial mound (excavations by S.I. Rudenko). Hermitage
Altai princess
The Altai princess became the second mummy found with a tattoo (tattoo had not yet been discovered on other, earlier mummies in the Hermitage). Kurgan 1, burial ground Ak-Alakha-3 (Ukok Plateau, Altai). Tattoos were inked on both arms from shoulders to hands. The drawings were blue and stood out against the white skin. They were preserved only on the left hand, on the right they were almost completely destroyed. Drawings were also applied to some phalanges of both hands. Archaeologists saw the tattoos when opening a wooden sarcophagus, then the mummy's skin began to darken, and the tattoos disappeared, and they were subsequently restored in the laboratory. When other Pazyryk mummies were found, the tattoos were not visually noticeable.
Noteworthy is the similarity of the main symbol in the tattoo of the leader and the Altai princess. The twisted image of a deer with a predatory beak, the tail, horns and tops of the horns look like griffins with beaks.
The mummy of a man with a tattoo from burial mound No. 3 of the Verkh-Kaldzhin-2 burial ground
The third tattooed body was found in mound 3 of the Verkh-Kaldzhin-2 burial ground (V.I. Molodin, 1993). On the left shoulder of the man is depicted a fantastic hoofed animal, as if thrown over his shoulder - with the body of a deer, the beak of a griffin, the heads of the vulture on the horns and back. The symbolism is the same, but done differently. In this regard, even the thought arose - is this why the twisting of the body of animals in symbols - maybe this is evidence of a rethinking of the animal through a skin folded, thrown over its shoulder or something else?
The identity of the tattoos indicates that all these people belong to the same clan or tribe. The symbols applied to the body as a result of a painful procedure made a person involved in the mystical secrets of his society and an equal member. The first tattoo was, apparently, an integral part of the initiation rite, then additional tattoos were applied throughout life associated with various events (such as a stamp in a passport about marriage, the birth of children, etc.).
ALTAI PRINCESS TATTOO
Drawing-reconstruction of the appearance of the Altai Princess and drawings of her tattoos.
On the woman's left shoulder below the main symbol, in the same "twisted" position, there is a ram with its head thrown back; at his feet is the closed mouth of a spotted leopard with a long, twisted tail. Under the leopard - a fantastic beast, the image of the head of which has not been preserved; he has clawed paws, a long striped tail of a tiger, the body of a lying deer, and the head of a griffin grows from his back. The head of a deer with large branched antlers is clearly visible on the wrist. On the second phalanx of the thumb of the woman's right hand, a hoofed animal with a "twisted" body is drawn. The signs on the middle and ring fingers of the left hand are small and poorly distinguishable.
The tattoo on the hands of a woman is identical in style and method of application to the tattoo of the "leader" from the 2nd barrow. The images of animals are repeated, there is a similarity in the compositional construction of drawings on the hands.
THE TATTOO WAS NOT APPLIED TO HIDE IT UNDER CLOTHING
Despite the harsh climate, tattoos, as N. Polosmak notes in his book, were not applied in order to "hide" them under clothing. The tattoo of men could be displayed during the struggle, including the shamanic struggle with evil spirits. During important events, the warriors threw off their fur coat, which was held on one belt, and bared their torsos, women threw up their painted hands.
Not only stylistic unity is noticeable on Pazyryk tattoos. The tradition of drawing images of certain animals on certain parts of the human body is guessed. For example, the upper part of the shoulder of both the leader and the princess was occupied by images of fantastic ungulates; alternating with rams and predators from the cat family.
The shoulders are one of the most visible and comfortable surfaces for tattooing; the most important sign was usually located here. On the shoulders of all three mummies were depicted the figures of the same fantastic creature. Since the tattoo was important not only during a person’s life, but also after his death, the fantastic creature depicted on the skin of all three known tattooed Pazyryk people (a deer with a griffin’s beak) could be an assistant to a person’s transition to the “other” world.
The tattoos are united by the repeatability of the elements of the drawing - not an ornament was applied to the human body, but a sign system, “text”. Civilizations that do not have their own written language are characterized by repeated repetition of symbols. Accordingly, a tattoo is a sacred letter that conveys important information of a mythological nature. The same symbols are repeated on clothes, utensils, weapons. Thus, the appearance of a person was transformed into a pictorial symbol of tribal wisdom. The tattoo not only symbolized the belonging of all members to one community (coat of arms), but also kept the memory of the customs, beliefs and moral standards adopted in this group of people (the bible).
The image of a fantastic beast is tattooed on the thumb of the hand of the Altai princess.
IN THE THUMB - THE SOUL OF A HUMAN
Usually Pazyryk women had an image of a bird on their thumb, while the Altai princess had a fantastic beast. Perhaps there is some meaning hidden here.
In Altai folklore, the soul of a person is enclosed in the thumb, and the thumb itself acts as the quintessence of life. In the Altai legends, the thumbs of the bogatyr's hands contain his life or "soul". Only by cutting them off, the enemies achieve the final death of the hero. The same tradition can be traced in the mythological anatomy of the Turkic peoples. The functions of the human thumb distinguish it from the animal world - a necessary condition for capturing, using various tools, including for making fire. In the Altaic legend "Maadai-Kara", the presence of the thumb becomes a hallmark of the human race. On the contrary, the absence of a thumb is an indicator of chthonic nature for the characters of the Turkic-Mongolian mythology. For many ancient peoples, the thumb was a phallic symbol, as well as a symbol of strength.
The images on the thumbs of the Pazyryk people (as well as on the fingers in general) were of paramount importance for them. Images of birds on the thumbs are typical not only for women, but also for men. Since for the ancients the sacred was equated with the phallic (creating Deity), the name of the bird in many languages \u200b\u200bis correlated with the meaning "to give birth", "genital organs". The drawing of a bird on the thumb indicates ideas related to procreation.
In men, the tattoo on the thumb often contains an image of a rooster - a symbol of male potency in many nations, a grouse is also often a symbol of the bride. Many species of birds in tattoos are depicted during displaying, including capercaillie and black grouse. On the other hand, among the Ob Ugrians, the "third soul" looks like a capercaillie. It flies to a person only during sleep, therefore it is called the “soul of sleep”, “sleep bird”. Thus, the birds on the fingers of the Pazyryks could also be the personification of the soul. Perhaps the drawings of birds were applied to the fingers upon reaching marriageable age or at the conclusion of marriage.
HOLY SOOT
Tattoos were applied with the help of pricking, the coloring matter was soot, the presence of potassium, characteristic of combustion products of plant origin, was confirmed by laboratory studies. Soot had a "protective" meaning. When tattooing in the Siberian and Far Eastern regions, even in the foreseeable ethnographic past, soot and coal mixed with fat, urine or plant sap were used as dyes.
Apparently, it was soot from the boiler that was used. About the tattoo of the Ob Ugrians, S. I. Rudenko wrote that “the decoration is applied in the form of dots with a needle, then soot is taken from the outside of the boiler and rubbed into the punctured places of the skin.” The soot from the cauldron acted in the traditional culture of the Tuvans as a magical remedy that protected a person from evil forces andmaking him invisible: for example, if in the evening you need to move with a child from one yurt to another, they smeared his face with soot from the boiler. Among the Altaians, for the first time, a guest who arrived was smeared with soot on the tip of the nose,thus introducing a new person to the fire of the village. Perhaps tattooing with soot rubbing from the surface of the boilerwas an act of familiarization with some kind of fire-hearth-home-kind.
The women's tattoo among the Pazaryks was distinguished by smaller and openwork patterns, it has fewer completely blackened places than on the men's tattoo. The blackening of some details of the image in order to make it more expressive and bright was probably done with the help of a bundle of needles tied together, which facilitated and accelerated the work of the tattoo artist.
TATTOO - SACRED RITUAL
The creation of indelible drawings on the body is a sacralized action, a developed ritual, upon completion of which the essence of a person completely changed. Tattoo artists were probably highly valued in Pazyryk society and belonged to the clergy, to the category of persons endowed with a special gift. In many nations, tattoos were applied by women. Skin with signs artificially applied to it, which have become inseparable from the skin, may be evidence of the blood relationship of people with the same tattoo.
In many archaic societies, the tattoo was of great importance andmost often associated with the rite of initiation (for both boys and girls). So, in Samoa, “a young man, until he was tattooed ... could not even think about marriage, he was constantly mocked as a poor man and a creature of low origin, who did not have the right to vote.Tattooing and scarification are those external signs of death and resurrection through which a person passed in primitive societies in order to gain access to spirituality.
There is evidence of tattoos among peoples geographically close to the Pazyryks. Among the archaeological finds in the Xinjiang region, Caucasoid mummies were found to have tattoos on the upper part of the arm, on the hands, fingers and back in the form of simple floral and geometric ornaments. In the burial ground of Subashi-3, a mummified head of a man was found, on whose face a painted pattern was preserved: two vertical lines were drawn in the center of the forehead, and two horizontal lines were drawn on the cheeks (in the spirit of Indian drawings). Probably, face painting was also known to the Tagars of the Minusinsk Basin. This may be indirect evidencetheir painted funeral face masks.
ALTAI PRINCESS JEWELRY
The symbolism of the tattoo of the Altai Princess is also repeated in the headdress. The jewelry is carved from wood and wrapped in gold foil, like all the gold jewelry of the Pazyryks. A high headdress with gold ornaments was obviously an important part of a woman's appearance.
The black mass that formed the wig is covered with horsehair. The wig is decorated with wooden braids covered with gold foil. A headdress was attached to the wig - a tall (61 cm) construction made of felt in the form of a long petal, covered with black fabric. 15 wooden bird figurines are sewn on it, pasted over with gold foil. Wings, paws and a leather tail are inserted into each of them separately. On the wig was fastened, like a cockade, a wooden figurine of a lying deer with a forked body, in gold foil. Another decoration of the hairstyle is a cover made of red wool, put on a strand of hair collected at the top of the head, a bronze pin with a wooden pommel in the form of a deer standing on a ball is stuck into it (all in gold foil).
Among the decorations of the Altai Princess is the most typical decoration for the entire Scythian region - a golden hryvnia.
The jewelry is made of wood and covered with thin gold foil, which does not hold its shape well. However, the wooden parts have been preserved, which allow you to accurately determine the shape of the hryvnia and other decorations. In Altai, gold has been mined since very ancient times. It is interesting that many mines in the 19th century were found in the footsteps of Chud mining. For the Pazyryks, gold, apparently, was especially important after death and had a symbolic meaning.
Hryvnias, apparently, served as amulets. On the wooden hoop of the torc of the Altai Princess, 8 figurines of winged leopards were fixed around the entire circumference. The hryvnia was spectacular, a similar design was found in the Pazyryk burial mounds only once. Often there are hryvnias with a hoop made of bronze and silver, as well as rods, in this case, obviously, they were made as funerary ones and were not worn during their lifetime. Apparently, the hryvnia was an obligatory element of the funeral rite, but this does not exclude the fact that they were worn during life. Hryvnias were found in all burials.
Marble beads with horse mane tassel.
Rings and bracelets were not found among the Pazyryks, but beads and beads are found, especially in rich burials, the Altai princess also had them. Among the Turks, beads were an attribute of the supreme patroness of children and women in childbirth. The decorations of the Pazyryks were also appliqués made of leather, birch bark and felt on clothes, mainly in the form of animals, birds and fish.
The princess' cosmetic kit included a black horsehair brush with a thin wooden shaft inside, tied with a (disappeared) leather cord, completely studded with cylindrical marble beads, and handfuls of scattered powder of bright blue-green color. There were also the remains of a broken thin rod of flat metal rings filled with the same blue-green substance (that is, in fact, it is a pencil for drawing lines or drawings like our eyeliner).
Analysis showed that it was vivianite (blue iron ore). Such a powder, closer to modern times, was used to obtain green paint. In the Altai Mountains, it is known as a satellite of gold sands. Perhaps this powder had a sacred meaning. The vivianite pencil may have been used for face painting, possibly for people with special functions or gifts. Among the Pazyryks, face and body painting has not been recorded, partly because not a single mummified face has been found. But among the peoples close to the Pazyryks, such a tradition was recorded, in particular, the painting of the face with two spiral drawings. There is a faint association with blue-green turquoise and numerous Sumerian green cosmetic "shadows" in boxes discovered during excavations in Ur and other cities of Sumer.
The ears of the Altai princess were wearing the simplest gold earrings (on the right in the photo), although in some burials there are earrings with pendants in the form of stylized griffins (on the left in the photo). Earrings were worn by all Pazyryks - both men and women.
Five small bronze pendants were found in the folds of the skirt.A fur veil was also decorated with gold foil appliqué, covering the entire contents of the deck with fur outside.
A bronze plate is inserted into the wooden frame of the mirror. The mirror lay at the woman's left thigh in a case made of white and red felt. At the handle of the mirror lay a scattering of multi-colored beads (glass, paste), among which was one molar of a person. Obviously, the handbag in which the mirror lay was embroidered with beads.
Thin woolen ropes are tied on the little fingers of the woman's hands. This custom was preserved among the Ekhochins, one of the groups of the Oirat population of western Mongolia. One end of the black-and-white rope was put on the finger of the right hand of the deceased, the other - on the finger of the left hand of one of the relatives of the deceased. Then the thread was cut so that the soul of the deceased would not remain with the living. This custom is based on the symbolic meaning of the thread as the thread of life. A thread stretched upward connected people with the heavenly spheres and symbolized life. The breaking of the thread symbolized death.
In addition to the above sources, there is a lot of interesting information about the history of tattoos - in the book
And also watch a selection of videos dedicated to the Altai Princess.
News about the recreation of the appearance of Princess Ukok
BBC film about the Altai Princess
Local shamans and the population demand to bury the mummy back.
All the superstitions and horror stories associated with the excavation of the grave of the Altai Princess, in the program "Urban Legends"
Princess Ukok
Experts suggest that this is how Princess Ukok looked during her lifetime
Princess Ukok (Altai princess, Ochy-bala) is the name given by journalists and residents of the Altai Republic to the mummy of a woman found during archaeological excavations at the Ak-Alakha burial ground in 1993. This is one of the most significant discoveries of Russian archeology at the end of the 20th century.
History of the find
Photograph of the mummy of Princess Ukok
The peoples who lived in the Altai Mountains were already known in the second half of the 6th century BC. e. Herodotus wrote about them and called them "gold-guarding vultures". Also, ancient Chinese sources mention "territorially close population of Altai". The beginning of the study of the "frozen" graves of Altai was laid in 1865 by V. V. Radlov.
Excavations of the Ak-Alakha-3 mound on the Ukok Plateau (Altai Republic), in which the so-called princess was buried, began in 1993 by Natalia Polosmak, an archaeologist from Novosibirsk, Doctor of Historical Sciences. The mound was a dilapidated monument, which in ancient times they tried to rob. In our time, the monument was destroyed in connection with the construction of border communications. By the beginning of the excavations, the mound was in a semi-dismantled state and looked devastated: in the sixties, during the conflict with China, a fortified area was built in this area, the materials for which were taken from the mounds.
In the mound, a burial of the Iron Age was discovered, under which there was another, more ancient one. During excavations, archaeologists discovered that the deck in which the body of the buried was placed was filled with ice. That is why the woman's mummy is well preserved. The lower burial was walled up in a layer of ice. This aroused great interest of archaeologists, since in such conditions very ancient things could be very well preserved.
The burial chamber was opened for several days, gradually melting the ice, trying not to harm the contents.
In the chamber, six horses were found under saddles and with a harness, as well as a wooden block of larch, nailed down with bronze nails. The contents of the burial clearly indicated the nobility of the buried person.
Studies have shown that the burial belongs to the period of the Pazyryk culture of Altai and was made in the 5th-3rd centuries BC. Researchers believe that
Modern populations of the North Altai anthropological type, which include the Northern Altaians, Teleuts, Mountain Shors, and also the Baraba Tatars of the late time, are descendants of the bearers of the Pazyryk culture.
An analysis in 2001 showed that representatives of the Pazyryk culture are closest in mitochondrial DNA to modern Selkups and Kets.
Appearance
The mummy lay on its side with its legs slightly tucked up. She had numerous tattoos on her arms. The mummies were wearing a silk shirt, a woolen skirt, felt socks, a fur coat and a wig. All these clothes were made of very high quality and testify to the high status of the buried. She died at a young age (about 25 years old) and belonged to the middle strata of Pazyryk society.
Location
The mummy is stored in the Anokhin National Museum (Republic of Altai, Gorno-Altaisk) in a sarcophagus with equipment for maintaining and controlling a special temperature and humidity regime. A special annex was built for the exhibit.
Public opinion
This fact caused discontent of a certain part of the Altai people. From their point of view, the “princess of Ukok” should have been returned to Altai: some believed that it was enough to return the mummy to the territory of the republic, while others believed that it should be buried again in the same place.
Opinion of Vyacheslav Molodin
The film "Revenge of the Altai Princess"
Alena Zharovskaya's film "Revenge of the Altai Princess" shown on ORT is characterized as far ahead of the republican newspapers in the amount of gag and mystical nonsense .
see also
Links
- "Evening Novosibirsk" about the "Altai princess" and the 1993 earthquake.
- http://www.trud.ru/trud.php?id=200312182340601 Article in the newspaper Trud.
- "News of the Altai Territory" The mummy of the "Altai Princess" is stored in the Anokhin Republican Museum.
- "News of the Altai Territory" Visitors to the museum in the Altai Republic will see a mannequin of Princess Ukok instead of a mummy, the mummy itself will be stored in a sarcophagus in a vault.
- TV movie NTV from the series "Mysterious Russia". "Mountain Altai. Gateway to Shambhala. The broadcast took place on Saturday, 09/10/2011
- "News of the Altai Territory" The mummy of Princess Ukok is finally placed in the Museum. Anokhin in Gorno-Altaisk and placed in a sarcophagus (article and photo).
Notes
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .
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Princess of Altai (Ukok)
- given by journalists and residents of the Altai Republic, the name of the mummy of a woman discovered in 1993 by an archaeological team led by Natalia Polosmak in the mound Ak-Alakha-3 on the Ukok plateau (Republic of Altai). This is one of the most significant discoveries of Russian archeology at the end of the 20th century.
The mound was a dilapidated monument, which in ancient times they tried to rob. In our time, the monument was destroyed in connection with the construction of border communications.
During excavations, archaeologists discovered that the deck in which the body of the buried was placed was filled with ice. That is why the woman's mummy is well preserved.
Studies have shown that the burial belongs to the period of the Pazyryk culture of Altai, made in the 5th-3rd centuries BC. Researchers believe that the genetically inhabited people at that time are close to the modern Selkups and Uighurs. She died at a young age (about 25 years old) and belonged to the middle strata of Pazyryk society.
Well-preserved tattoos were found on the woman's body. Things, household utensils, etc. were also found in the barrow.
Some residents of Gorny Altai, after the discovery of the mummy, began to demand a ban on excavations in Altai and the reburial of the mummy. They stated that the Altaians always knew the burial place of this woman, supposedly "Princess Kadyn", and worshiped her as the progenitor of the Altai people. However, all these facts were not confirmed during the verification.
The mummy is currently kept in Institute of Archeology and Ethnography SB RAS (Novosibirsk).
The signs on the body of the princess, the details of the burial indicate belonging to the high-level priestly layers of the Scythians who inhabited Central Asia at that time.
Photograph of the mummy of Princess Ukok
Experts have found that this is how Princess Ukok looked during her lifetime
The National Museum will honorably accept the Ukok "Princess"
In the Republic of Altai, the reconstruction of the National Museum of the Republic of Altai. A.V. Anokhin, to whom the mummy of a Pazyryk woman from the Ak-Alakha-3 burial mound on the Ukok plateau, discovered in 1993, should be transferred for storage. During 2008-2009, a new museum building is to be built, with a specially equipped hall for the mummy and accompanying grave goods. Director of the National Museum of the Republic of Altai named after V.I. A.V. Anokhin Rimma Erkinova.
- Tell us about the main results of the museum's work in the past year? What was the most important and life of the museum?
- The past year is notable for the fact that in April 2007 Boris Boyarskov, head of the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Mass Communications, Communications and Protection of Cultural Heritage, visited us. He visited the Republic of Altai, got acquainted with archaeological sites, the museum, museum funds, their safety and security. He said, “Good! I did not expect that there is such a museum in the Altai Republic.” He saw our unique funds - collections of paintings by an outstanding Altai artist, a student of I.I. Shishkin G. I. Choros-Gurkin, and was very surprised by the rich collection. We took advantage of his visit to solve our old problem. In 1945, on the basis of the order of the Altai Regional Council of Workers, Gurkin's works were temporarily taken from the museum's funds for exhibition in Barnaul: 227 paintings and more than 2,000 unique drawings. Some of the paintings were returned, but the drawings remained. Today they are stored in the State Art Museum of the Altai Territory. He ordered his employees to study this issue so that the artist's drawings would be returned to our museum.
In the past year, the museum has released several of its publications. Among which was published a catalog of works by the original Altai artist N.I. Chevalkov. His works are kept in Biysk, Barnaul, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk. For the first time, we published in full his works and 35 letters written to his teacher V. Gulyaev in the 1920s and still unpublished. In addition, this work reveals the completely forgotten Chevalkov, an illustrator of school textbooks.
At the end of the year, we made an exhibition of the talented Altai artist Vladimir Zaprudaev, who passed away early, and published a small catalogue. We collected his paintings from private collections and from the Biysk Museum of Local Lore. With this exhibition we ended our year. Also, for the first time in 2007, we held a “museum night”, which was very liked by visitors, especially young people. We are constantly asked when the next “museum night” will be.
In 2007, we continued the restoration of the estate of the artist G.I. Choros-Gurkin in the village of Anos, Chemalsky district of the Altai Republic, where he lived and worked. It was one of the most famous places in Siberia before the revolution. His paintings were included in the first art collections of many Siberian museums. And of course, in 2007 we lived in anticipation of the beginning of the reconstruction of our museum.
- How did you react to the decision to build a repository for the Ukok mummy?
- We expected this decision. But when I was invited to the government and informed, it was a great joy. It was before baptism, before the 19th, and we took it as a good sign. We are grateful to our Ukok “Princess”. If it had not been found, then the question of the reconstruction of the museum would have lasted even longer. The issue of the reconstruction of the museum and the return of the mummy is being actively discussed in Gorno-Altaisk, in newspapers, on television, and on the radio. He worries and interests everyone.
- How will construction affect the work of the museum in 2008?
- We must be ready for a kind of "evacuation" of the museum's funds and consider premises that meet the requirements for the safety and security of museum objects and collections. A weekly meeting is held at the level of the Minister of Regional Development of the Republic of Altai, the chief architect of the project and the contractor. The project is very interesting. Big money has been released. It is very difficult to master such a solid volume within one year and the construction will be intense.
- Will the temporary exhibitions of the museum work during the construction works?
- In the new drama theater, where there is a good exhibition hall, we may hold art exhibitions. Historical collections will not be expanded due to lack of space.
The famous Princess of Ukok will be returned to the Altai Museum...
We are celebrating our 90th anniversary this year. The first collections were acquired in October 1918 on the initiative of G.I. Choros-Gurkin, and from this we count the history of the museum. We have postponed the anniversary events to the new museum next year. They left only the traditional “Anokhin Readings” in October, because the invitations were already sent out in December 2007.
- What do you think the museum will look like after construction is completed?
- Today the museum is visited by 25 thousand people a year, and the dynamics is positive. I think that after the reconstruction, visits to the museum will increase by 2-3 times. The new museum will have a recreation area, a cafe, a souvenir shop, and so on, and it will be possible to relax and calmly walk around the museum after a long journey. We foresaw it all.
The mystery of the death of the Altai princess remains unsolved....
For the mummy, a separate storage is created - the mausoleum. That is how we call it. But not like in Novosibirsk, where it lies in a glass case, you can walk around it in circles and stare. The museum display of human remains should be done with great tact and respect for human dignity, which are inherent in all peoples. In the minds of the local population, “Princess Ukok” embodies the image of the Ancestor and the ancient Patroness of the Altai peoples, rude treatment of which and, in particular, her forcible separation from her native land, are still perceived very painfully and sharply. The excavations on the Ukok Plateau once again sharpened the problem of irreparable mistakes in the sphere of cultural heritage management.
The body of a woman of the Pazyryk culture will lie in a sarcophagus in a special room where her clothes, headdress and other burial items will be exhibited. Nearby there will be a reconstruction, perhaps, of one of the moments of the life of the Ukok princess, or the moment of her burial.
- Do you think the mummy will be returned to the museum next year?
- This question is of interest to the entire population of the Altai Republic and our guests. In your article, we read that academicians Vyacheslav Molodin and Anatoly Derevyanko agree to transfer the mummy if conditions for storage are created. I myself participated in the negotiations of the Republican Ministry of Culture and the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Akademgorodok, in 1998. They agreed to the transfer of the mummy if conditions were created for its storage. There was then a question of returning only one mummy, without the accompanying inventory. We believe that this is neither ethical nor legal.
But, nevertheless, we began to prepare the room. When it was 80% ready, the local Ministry of Culture raised the issue of returning the mummy. In response, it was stated that the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography exceeded its powers by participating in the negotiations, and this issue will be considered at the level of the Presidium of the SB RAS.
This situation with the return of the mummy escalated again in 2003, during the earthquake. Then there were several thousand applications. Ordinary residents and deputies from the affected areas wrote to all authorities about returning the Altai mummy to its place. In the minds of the people, this is not only a “biological object”, as scientists say, but this is a princess, an ancestor. They even say that the epic Ochi-Bala is a heroic girl who saved her people during the invasion of foreign enemies.
Her return is a very painful issue. Of course, there were also discussions about the burial of the mummy, but I, as a museum worker, the custodian of cultural heritage, insisted on bringing it to the museum, creating all the conditions for its storage. Many agreed with my arguments. Thanks to them and all the people, and our friends from Germany, Switzerland, Italy, America, Japan and Korea, who sincerely wanted to see her in Altai, and even wanted to create a fund in her name, raise money for the construction of the mausoleum. I think that they will be happy to help us resolve some issues today as well.
The Ukok Princess is an integral part of the cultural heritage of the peoples of the Altai Republic. We treat her with great respect. And when she is solemnly brought into the National Museum, all the honors due to such a person will be respected.
- Do you think the return of the mummy will increase the significance of the museum?
- And now the National Museum plays a big role. We have a comprehensive museum, we have good collections of archeology, ethnography, nature, and an excellent art collection. When employees from the Russian Museum, who supervise the art museums of Russia, came to us, they were surprised by our small but well-chosen collection. We not only store, but also acquire the works of artists. They included us in the list of art museums in Russia, which is very important for us.
Naturally, the importance of the museum with the importation of the mummy will rise even more. We can become one of the wonders of Russia. In Altai, you can not relax like in Turkey or Egypt, lie on the hot sand, swim in the sea. Here, nature has created unique conditions for active, educational tourism. And the museum will become the starting point for all routes along the obvious and secret paths of Altai
- Does the museum organize its own archaeological expeditions? What are your plans for studying the archaeological heritage and participating in the protection of monuments?
- In the 1980s, the museum had its own archaeological team. Museum archaeologists had open lists and they went to emergency excavations during the construction of roads or barns. In the 1990s, due to lack of funds, our expeditions stopped working. Archaeological expeditions can now be afforded by large scientific centers such as Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Barnaul, etc. The National Museum, along with our State University, the Institute of Altaic Studies, should have its own archaeological expedition in the future.
I think that our Government will not miss the chance to give local scientists the opportunity to adequately participate in all projects related to archaeological excavations.
We don't really like the attitude of some scientists who think that great science cannot develop in the republic. Sooner or later, we will resume work on the mounds due to the fact that the area of settlement and construction is increasing due to the intensive growth of the tourism industry. Archaeological finds must be stored and exhibited in the National Museum. For this, additional storage facilities, laboratories, exposition and exhibition halls that meet international standards are being built.
History lessons:
The mysterious mummy of the Altai princess Ukok, which lay in the walls of the museum of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the SB RAS for seventeen years, will be returned from Novosibirsk to Altai in the near future. Quite specific conversations about this, and not rumors, began in the spring, and in early summer it finally became clear that the princess would be taken to the National Museum of the Altai Republic after the reconstruction was completed there. An agreement on this was reached in early June during a meeting between the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Altai Vladimir Konchev and the director of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician Anatoly Derevyanko. There is no agreement on the transfer of the mummy yet, but, as the SB RAS noted, it should appear immediately after experts examine the conditions for storing a valuable exhibit in the museum.Recall that the mummy, whose age is more than 2.5 thousand years, was found by the expedition of the Novosibirsk archaeologist Natalia Polosmak on the Ukok high plateau in 1993. The find was recognized as one of the most significant discoveries of Russian archeology, after which it was transferred to the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography.
Since then, there has been constant debate about where the mummy should be kept - in Novosibirsk or Gorno-Altaisk. For seventeen years of the “new life” of the princess, there was nothing but. After a strong earthquake happened in Altai, some Altai deputies and officials blamed Novosibirsk for everything. Like, this is retribution for the fact that the progenitor was disturbed. Then the Altaians frightened Novosibirsk with bad weather: rainy summers and cold winters. Allegedly, the weather, or rather bad weather, is also rampant because of the princess. The mummy attracted not only Altai deputies, frost and rain, but also foreigners. A few years ago, a resident of the English city of Chestelham, Sylvia Charleswood, came to Novosibirsk to bring a silk scarf to the princess's head. Allegedly, Sylvia communicated with the spirit of the mummy, and he told her that her name was Princess Umai. And she is not a princess at all, but a priestess. During the conversation, she asked an elderly Englishwoman to bring her a silk scarf to Novosibirsk in order to cover her head with it, it’s somehow ugly - to lie naked for all to see. However, the spirit spoke to Sylvia not only about scarves, but about the targeted opposition to the policy of former US President George W. Bush (even older). Umai believed that Bush's violence could lead to the total destruction of America, which would entail the crisis of the entire civilization.
The SPIRIT of the princess asked women to gather in circles and be saturated with Love, Joy and Gratitude in order to resist Evil and Violence. Who knows, whether now Sylvia will be able to communicate so calmly with the princess, who will be taken to Gorno-Altaisk, all the same, such a connection will be thinner than a cellular one.
However, as one of the experts of "New Siberia" noted, who wished not to reveal himself, the attitude towards the mummy and mounds can be different, including in Altai. Someone is fighting to ensure that the princess, if not buried, then at least brought back. Others do not care at all about ancient mounds and everything connected with them. Just the other day, residents of one of the villages of the Vengerovsky district used for fertilizer the land from an ancient burial mound, where archaeologists were excavating. Because of this, the ancient monument began to crumble. The police found no evidence of a crime. It turned out that the inhabitants did not even know that they lived near the ancient burial mound.
According to experts, the transfer of the mummy is not the fear of archaeologists of bad weather or that Sylvia Charleswood will not be able to communicate with her. It's not even a good neighborly gesture. This is a decision at least at the level of the leadership of regional governments, and, most likely, at the level of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.
As an official of one of the federal services noted, the transfer of finds of this level can only be decided at the highest level. At the same time, the interlocutor recalled that the mummy was found 17 years ago, and at that time, most likely, legislation was still in force, according to which all the values found during the excavations belonged to the state.
Valentina Orlova, director of the Museum of the History of the Development of Public Education in the Novosibirsk Region, agrees with this point of view:
- After all, this is a monument of republican significance, therefore, most likely, the issue of transferring the mummy to Altai was first decided between the governments of the Novosibirsk Region and Altai, and then at the level of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. In general, I am not in favor of transferring such finds from one museum to another. For what? What is the point of transportation if the architectural monument is properly stored? This is not the property of a separate republic, but of the whole country! But, on the other hand, interethnic disputes were present in the solution of this issue. Everything is quite complicated here: this is a purely political issue, - commented Valentina Orlova.
Yury Fabrika, Deputy Director for Science of the Museum of the History of the Siberian Military District, noted that the transfer of an exhibit from a museum to a museum is a very laborious task:
- We, for example, do not have an exchange fund, so we do not exchange our exhibits with museums. Just as we do not have the right to buy exhibits if suddenly the museum receives an application for a purchase. There was one very unpleasant incident when they brought us a hat of a state militia member of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, but we could not buy it - the rules do not allow, and, of course, there was no money. In general, in order to give or change a valuable thing, you need its analogue. We have never had this. Basically, our exhibits are replenished at the expense of the townspeople, - commented Yuri Fabrika.
After many years of disputes about where the mummy should be kept, representatives of the museum community are still more inclined to finally transfer it to Altai. Like, already tired of these grievances. True, whether this transfer will be disinterested or whether archaeologists will be allowed to resume rare excavations, which have so far been suspended due to amendments to local legislation, is still unclear. And yet, won't the repatriation of the princess lead to a chain reaction: won't the Yakuts come to Novosibirsk tomorrow with a demand to return the mammoth from the local history museum to its historical homeland?
Princess Ukok- given by journalists and residents of the Altai Republic, the name of the mummy of a woman discovered in 1993 by an archaeological team led by Natalia Polosmak in the mound Ak-Alakha-3 on (Republic of Altai). This is one of the most significant discoveries of Russian archeology at the end of the 20th century.
The mound was a dilapidated monument, which in ancient times they tried to rob. In our time, the monument was destroyed in connection with the construction of border communications.
In one of the pits located under the mound, archaeologists discovered the burial of a man buried there in the era of the Scythians. Near the remains of a man, a number of scientifically interesting objects were discovered: 2 knives made of iron, several clay vessels, and pieces of gold foil. It is especially interesting that 3 horses were buried together with a man. But the most interesting discovery is that under the found burial of a man, an even earlier burial of a noble woman was found.
The fact that this woman belonged to a noble family is beyond doubt, since a number of very expensive items for those times, as well as six horses, were buried with the woman.
During excavations, archaeologists discovered that the deck in which the body of the buried was placed was filled with ice. That is why the woman's mummy is well preserved.
Studies have shown that the burial belongs to the period of the Pazyryk culture of Altai, made in the 5th-3rd centuries BC. Researchers believe that the genetically inhabited people at that time are close to the modern Selkups and Uighurs. She died at a young age (about 25 years old) and belonged to the middle strata of Pazyryk society.
Well-preserved tattoos were found on the woman's body. Things, household utensils, etc. were also found in the barrow.
Photo gallery :
Some residents of Gorny Altai, after the discovery of the mummy, began to demand a ban on excavations in Altai and the reburial of the mummy. They stated that the Altaians always knew the burial place of this woman, allegedly “Princess Kadyn”, and worshiped her as the progenitor of the Altai people. However, all these facts were not confirmed during the verification.
On September 20, one of the main exhibits of the Museum of the History and Culture of the Peoples of Siberia and the Far East of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IAiET) - the mummy of the famous "Altai Princess", found by archaeologists 19 years ago on a plateau in the Altai Mountains, was sent by helicopter from Novosibirsk to Gorno-Altaisk.
The mummy of an ancient woman was placed in.
The signs on the body of the princess, the details of the burial indicate belonging to the high-level priestly layers of the Scythians who inhabited Central Asia at that time.
It is possible to visit the burial site of Princess Ukok on an expedition.
Book a tour by phone. 8-913-305-0000
Photograph of the mummy of Princess Ukok
Experts have found that this is how Princess Ukok looked during her lifetime
Revenge of the Altai Princess (Ukok Plateau)
The National Museum will honor the Ukok "Princess"
In the Republic of Altai, the reconstruction of the National Museum of the Republic of Altai. A.V. Anokhin, to whom the mummy of a Pazyryk woman from the Ak-Alakha-3 burial mound on the Ukok plateau, discovered in 1993, should be transferred for storage. During 2008-2009, a new museum building is to be built, with a specially equipped hall for the mummy and accompanying grave goods. Director of the National Museum of the Republic of Altai named after V.I. A.V. Anokhin Rimma Erkinova.
Tell us about the main results of the museum's work in the past year? What was the most important and life of the museum?
The past year is notable for the fact that in April 2007 Boris Boyarskov, head of the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Mass Communications, Communications and Protection of Cultural Heritage, visited us. He visited the Republic of Altai, got acquainted with archaeological sites, the museum, museum funds, their safety and security. He said, “Good! I did not expect that there is such a museum in the Altai Republic.” He saw our unique funds - collections of paintings by an outstanding Altai artist, a student of I.I. Shishkin G. I. Choros-Gurkin, and was very surprised by the rich collection. We took advantage of his visit to solve our old problem. In 1945, on the basis of the order of the Altai Regional Council of Workers, Gurkin's works were temporarily taken from the museum's funds for exhibition in Barnaul: 227 paintings and more than 2,000 unique drawings. Some of the paintings were returned, but the drawings remained. Today they are stored in the State Art Museum of the Altai Territory. He ordered his employees to study this issue so that the artist's drawings would be returned to our museum.
In the past year, the museum has released several of its publications. Among which was published a catalog of works by the original Altai artist N.I. Chevalkov. His works are kept in Biysk, Barnaul, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk. For the first time, we published in full his works and 35 letters written to his teacher V. Gulyaev in the 1920s and still unpublished. In addition, this work reveals the completely forgotten Chevalkov, an illustrator of school textbooks.
At the end of the year, we made an exhibition of the talented Altai artist Vladimir Zaprudaev, who passed away early, and published a small catalogue. We collected his paintings from private collections and from the Biysk Museum of Local Lore. With this exhibition we ended our year. Also, for the first time in 2007, we held a “museum night”, which was very liked by visitors, especially young people. We are constantly asked when the next "museum night" is.
In 2007, we continued the restoration of the estate of the artist G.I. Choros-Gurkin in the village of Anos, Chemalsky district of the Altai Republic, where he lived and worked. It was one of the most famous places in Siberia before the revolution. His paintings were included in the first art collections of many Siberian museums. And of course, in 2007 we lived in anticipation of the start of the reconstruction of our museum
How did you react to the decision to build a vault for the Ukok mummy?
We expected this decision. But when I was invited to the government and informed, it was a great joy. It was before baptism, before the 19th, and we took it as a good sign. We are grateful to our Ukok "Princess". If it had not been found, then the question of the reconstruction of the museum would have lasted even longer. The issue of the reconstruction of the museum and the return of the mummy is being actively discussed in Gorno-Altaisk, in newspapers, on television, and on the radio. He worries and interests everyone.
How will construction affect the work of the museum in 2008?
We must be ready for a kind of "evacuation" of the museum's funds and consider premises that meet the requirements for the safety and security of museum objects and collections. A weekly meeting is held at the level of the Minister of Regional Development of the Republic of Altai, the chief architect of the project and the contractor. The project is very interesting. Big money has been released. It is very difficult to master such a solid volume within one year and the construction will be intense.
Will temporary exhibitions of the museum be open during the construction works?
In the new drama theater, where there is a good exhibition hall, perhaps we will hold art exhibitions. Historical collections will not be expanded due to lack of space.
We are celebrating our 90th anniversary this year. The first collections were acquired in October 1918 on the initiative of G.I. Choros-Gurkin, and from this we count the history of the museum. We have postponed the anniversary events to the new museum next year. They left only the traditional “Anokhin Readings” in October, because the invitations were already sent out in December 2007.
What do you think the museum will look like after construction is completed?
Today the museum is visited by 25 thousand people a year, and the dynamics is positive. I think that after the reconstruction, visits to the museum will increase by 2-3 times. The new museum will have a recreation area, a cafe, a souvenir shop, and so on, and it will be possible to relax and calmly walk around the museum after a long journey. We foresaw it all.
For the mummy, a separate storage is created - the mausoleum. That is how we call it. But not like in Novosibirsk, where it lies in a glass case, you can walk around it in circles and stare. The museum display of human remains should be done with great tact and respect for human dignity, which are inherent in all peoples. In the minds of the local population, “Princess Ukok” embodies the image of the Ancestor and the ancient Patroness of the Altai peoples, rude treatment of which and, in particular, its forcible separation from her native land are still perceived very painfully and sharply. The excavations on the Ukok Plateau once again sharpened the problem of irreparable mistakes in the sphere of cultural heritage management.
The body of a woman of the Pazyryk culture will lie in a sarcophagus in a special room where her clothes, headdress and other burial items will be exhibited. Nearby there will be a reconstruction, perhaps, of one of the moments of the life of the Ukok princess, or the moment of her burial.
Do you think the mummy will be returned to the museum next year?
This question is of interest to the entire population of the Altai Republic and our guests. In your article, we read that academicians Vyacheslav Molodin and Anatoly Derevyanko agree to transfer the mummy if conditions for storage are created. I myself participated in the negotiations of the Republican Ministry of Culture and the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Akademgorodok, in 1998. They agreed to the transfer of the mummy if conditions were created for its storage. There was then a question of returning only one mummy, without the accompanying inventory. We believe that this is neither ethical nor legal.
But, nevertheless, we began to prepare the room. When it was 80% ready, the local Ministry of Culture raised the issue of returning the mummy. In response, it was stated that the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography exceeded its powers by participating in the negotiations, and this issue will be considered at the level of the Presidium of the SB RAS.
This situation with the return of the mummy escalated again in 2003, during the earthquake. Then there were several thousand applications. Ordinary residents and deputies from the affected areas wrote to all authorities about returning the Altai mummy to its place. In the minds of the people, this is not only a “biological object”, as scientists say, but this is a princess, an ancestor. They even say that the epic Ochi-Bala is a heroic girl who saved her people during the invasion of foreign enemies.
Her return is a very painful issue. Of course, there were also discussions about the burial of the mummy, but I, as a museum worker, the custodian of cultural heritage, insisted on bringing it to the museum, creating all the conditions for its storage. Many agreed with my arguments. Thanks to them and all the people, and our friends from Germany, Switzerland, Italy, America, Japan and Korea, who sincerely wanted to see her in Altai, and even wanted to create a fund in her name, raise money for the construction of the mausoleum. I think that they will be happy to help us resolve some issues today as well.
The Ukok Princess is an integral part of the cultural heritage of the peoples of the Altai Republic. We treat her with great respect. And when she is solemnly brought into the National Museum, all the honors due to such a person will be respected.
Do you think the return of the mummy will increase the significance of the museum?
And now the National Museum plays a big role. We have a comprehensive museum, we have good collections of archeology, ethnography, nature, and an excellent art collection. When employees from the Russian Museum, who supervise the art museums of Russia, came to us, they were surprised by our small but well-chosen collection. We not only store, but also acquire the works of artists. They included us in the list of art museums in Russia, which is very important for us.
Naturally, the importance of the museum with the importation of the mummy will rise even more. We can become one of the wonders of Russia. In Altai, you can not relax like in Turkey or Egypt, lie on the hot sand, swim in the sea. Here, nature has created unique conditions for active, educational tourism. And the museum will become the starting point for all routes along the obvious and secret paths of Altai
Does the museum organize its own archaeological expeditions? What are your plans for studying the archaeological heritage and participating in the protection of monuments?
In the 1980s, the museum had its own archaeological team. Museum archaeologists had open lists and they went to emergency excavations during the construction of roads or barns. In the 1990s, due to lack of funds, our expeditions stopped working. Archaeological expeditions can now be afforded by large scientific centers such as Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Barnaul, etc. The National Museum, along with our State University, the Institute of Altaic Studies, should have its own archaeological expedition in the future.
I think that our Government will not miss the chance to give local scientists the opportunity to adequately participate in all projects related to archaeological excavations.
We don't really like the attitude of some scientists who think that great science cannot develop in the republic. Sooner or later, we will resume work on the mounds due to the fact that the area of settlement and construction is increasing due to the intensive growth of the tourism industry. Archaeological finds must be stored and exhibited in the National Museum. For this, additional storage facilities, laboratories, exposition and exhibition halls that meet international standards are being built.
Scythians - the name applied to some tribes and peoples that lived in Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Siberia in the era of antiquity and the times of the Great Migration of Peoples.
Who are these Scythians?
Everyone remembers from the school bench the famous lines of Alexander Blok:
Millions - you. Us - darkness, and darkness, and darkness.
Try it, fight with us!
Yes, we are Scythians! Yes, we are Asians
With slanting and greedy eyes!
("Scythians" Alexander Blok)
This is the stereotype of the Scythians that we have developed that the Scythians are nomadic warlike tribes of the Mongoloid race, something like the Mongol-Tatars.
The stereotype turned out to be wrong.
First of all, let's decide where exactly the Scythians lived?
The question of the geography of Scythia is complex. There are two large parts of it: the eastern, steppe, between the Don and the Dnieper, including the northern steppe Crimea, occupied by nomads, and the western, populated by the agricultural population - mainly to Transnistria and partly to the Bug. The western boundary of the settlement of the Scythians was constantly changing. The influence of the Scythian culture spread during the period of the 4th-3rd centuries. BC e. far to the west, into the Carpatho-Danubian region and the Thracian world, and to the north. More stable was the eastern border of the settlement of the Scythians. According to Herodotus, it passed along the Don, which separated the Scythians from the Sarmatians.
In the mountain valleys of Altai: Pazyryk, Ukok and on the Kosh-Agach plateau, an ancient people lived (its self-name is not recorded by ancient authors), known from the monuments of the Pazyryk culture. In the center of Southern Siberia, in the Khakass-Minusinsk region on both banks of the Yenisei, within the steppe and forest-steppe valleys and to the north to the Krasnoyarsk-Achinsk-Mariinsk line, there was a territory of Tatar culture - the most powerful center of culture of the Scythian world in the east. In the upper reaches of the Yenisei and the valley of Tuva lived the tribes of the Uyuk culture. Finally, the Ordos culture in East Asia occupied the eastern part of the Scytho-Siberian world.
From this enumeration, it is obvious that in the Scythian era, the European and Asian steppes and the adjacent forest-steppes, semi-deserts, mountain valleys and foothills were inhabited by various tribes, mainly of the Iranian language group. In the language classification scheme, the Scythian language belongs to the Old Iranian languages, while the Sarmatian and Alanian languages belong to the Middle Iranian languages.
Archaeological material notes the similarity of fine art objects (weapons, details of horse harness and works of art) both from the southern Russian barrows of the Scythian nobility, and from the barrows excavated in southern Siberia.
In the steppes of Eurasia in the Scythian time, along with local cults, common Scythian-Siberian cults developed with an ancient basis: ancestors, animals, the sun, the plant forces of nature (the Tree of Life), and later, from the 5th century. BC e., the cult of fire. They were a reflection of ideas about the world, about the Universe, the idea of the struggle between good and evil, the deification of the sun and other forces of nature, the mystery of the cycle in nature. Echoes of this complex mythological system can be traced primarily in the funeral rite and the art of the so-called animal style, which are convincing evidence of the ideological unity of cultures and peoples of the Scythian-Siberian world.
Among this environment, one can distinguish cultures of the Scythian appearance, so close to the group of basic cultures that their inventory actually did not differ from the Scythian. These include the culture of the forest-steppe Scythia, the Milograd and Ananyino cultures on the periphery of the Scythians, in the south of the culture of the Scythian time of Uzbekistan, in the east - the culture of the Scythian time of Transbaikalia. Finally, cultures with a specific burial rite, arrangement of burial structures, ceramics, and household implements can be noted. But even in them one can feel the influence of the Scythian-Siberian animal style, Scythian forms of weapons, bronze and iron implements. These are the Sargat culture in Baraba, the Bolsherechenskaya on the Ob, the cultures of the Krasnoyarsk-Kan region and the Southern Angara region. In addition, the ethnic and linguistic composition of this ancient population was not uniform, there were also Finno-Ugric peoples, such as, for example, the Ananyins, and, possibly, the Proto-Turks - to the east of the Yenisei.
Thus:
The main carriers of the culture of the Scythian-Siberian world were the ancient Indo-Iranians. In the neighborhood with them lived the peoples of the Finno-Ugric, Samoyedic, Proto-Slavic, Proto-Turkic and other groups. The culture of these peoples was close to the Scythian due to interpenetration due to the migration processes taking place at that time.
What did the Scythians look like?
Indo-Iranians are representatives of the Indo-European race, i.e. they looked like you and me. A good proof of this assumption is the discovery on the Ukok plateau of the mummy of a young woman, who was nicknamed "Altai princess" or "Scythian princess".
This is what Princess Ukok looked like during her lifetime (reconstruction by scientists)
In short, the story is as follows: in 1993, Novosibirsk archaeologists excavated a mound on the Ukok plateau and discovered a well-preserved mummy of a girl. The deck in which the body of the buried was placed was filled with ice. That is why the woman's mummy is well preserved. In the chamber, six horses were found under saddles and with a harness, as well as a wooden block of larch, nailed down with bronze nails. Studies have shown that the burial belongs to the period of the Pazyryk culture of Altai, made in the 5th-3rd centuries BC. She was dressed in a silk shirt, woolen skirt, felt socks, a fur coat and a wig, and there were patterned tattoos on her arms. The height of the girl is about 172 cm. The find was transported to Novosibirsk, although the locals were categorically against it - you can’t disturb the ashes of your ancestors. In Novosibirsk, the mummy began to turn catastrophically black (i.e., the process of tissue decomposition began), the scientists got scared and turned to Moscow for help at the research institute, which was engaged in the mummification of Lenin's body. Scientists undertook to restore the skin of the princess. In the process of this work, of course, tissue samples were taken for DNA research and it turned out that the princess had nothing to do with the Turkic peoples and belonged to the Indo-European race.
These data were also confirmed by the reconstruction of the face from the skull. The genetically inhabited people at that time are close to the modern Selkups. She died at a young age (about 25 years old) and belonged to the middle strata of Pazyryk society. Since the Altaians belong to the Mongoloid race, they indignantly accepted the information of scientists, they considered that in this way they were deprived of the heritage of their ancestors.
However, there is no specific gene responsible for race. Up to half of the Altaian population has a Y-chromosome belonging to the R1a haplogroup, which is conditionally considered Eastern European. On the other hand, skulls characteristic of both Mongoloids and Caucasoids, as well as intermediate variants, are found in different burials of the Pazyryk culture. Thus, there is no reason to doubt the genetic connection of the people of the Pazyryk culture with the modern peoples of the region.
