Introduction to the Discovery
The complicated tattoos of a 2,500-year-old Siberian "ice mummy" were finally unveiled by high-tech imaging. The designs reveal leopards, tigers, a deer, a rooster, and even a few long-lost mythical creatures. These tattoos belong to a woman who was about 50 years old when she died. It is believed that she belonged to the nomadic riding culture of the Pazyryk, which roamed through the country between China and Europe.
The Unveiling of the Tattoos
The scans revealed "complicated, crispy, and even" tattoos that could not be seen with the naked eye. In the two millennia, the ink on the body became almost invisible when the skin darkens over time. The high-resolution scans were able to reveal the decorations for the first time in 2,500 years. On her right forearm, the woman had a picture of leopards and tigers around two deer. A mythical grip-like creature with the body of a lion, head, and wings of an eagle seem to fight with a deer on the left arm.
The Significance of the Tattoos
The tattoo was probably widespread during prehistory, but only a few remains of this time are well preserved to examine. But the so-called "ice mummies" of the Altai mountains in Siberia were often surrounded in ice ditches that saved the skin. While the tattoos were not visible on the skin, they were brought back to life with digital photography of the almost infrared in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. The designs are so detailed that even a modern tattoo artist has difficulty reproducing them.
The Culture Behind the Tattoos
The "ice mummy" also had a rooster on its thumb and showed "a fascinating style with a certain uniqueness." The design was made with even thickness, which indicates tattooed methods and tools. Some lines were created with a multipoint tool, while others were produced with a finer single-point tool. The researchers could even see where the old tattoo artist stopped working and resumed the overlap of some lines. Dogged rear bodies and really intensive fight scenes of wild animals are typical of the culture.
The Tattooing Techniques
Many cultures all over the world have traditionally bound bundles of planting or spikes in tattoos. The tools consisted of natural, biodegradable materials, which means that the researchers cannot examine the devices themselves. We imagine the multipoint tool as a densely grouped tinker bundle that is probably bound with thread or tendons. The findings really run over to how high these people were, and as a result, the feeling is that we were much closer to the people behind the art as they worked and learned. The pictures came alive.
