Siberian mummy preserved on ancient ice has “truly special” tattoos

The analysis of the tattoos of the mummy of a semi-nominated Iron Age Shepherd Pastor for 2000 years, which were not visible to the naked eye, revealed fascinating images: herbivores hunted by tigers, leopards and a emphasis added, and bird representations-in a unusual vivid style.

Prehistory tattoos were apparently more common than thought. Recently, we had news of a rare 800 -year -old zap with rare facial tattoos.

Now a team of investigators has analyzed a mummy, preserved on ice for over 2000 years of a woman who died in the 3rd century or IV AC – and deciphered the abundant Body art that covered it.

In the course of the analysis, the mummy, from a semi-nominated pastor of the Straita Plague of Siberia, who was part of the people, revealed elaborate tattoos – With tigers, birds and a Fantastic animal They were discovered in an ice mummy over 2000 years old.

According to, it is difficult to know how common the tattoos were in prehistory, because Few bodies of so remote times They still conserve the skin today.

There are, however, some remarkable exceptions, such as, who lived and was around 3300 BC, having been preserved on ice – along with his own.

The team, led by Gino Casparifrom the Max Planck Institute of Geoantropology, Germany, examined the body of the Pastor of the Iron Age, originating from the mountains of Altai, Siberia, which was about 50 years old when he died – No secular III or IV AC

The pastor is one of the few people in the region whose deep funeral chambers have been involved in pergelissolwhat transform them into “ice mummies” – which preserved the skin, although dark and dry.

“Tattoos are not visible to the naked eye When the mummy is observed, ”explains Caspari. So his team resorted to high resolution photographs with infrared – which revealed an extraordinary set of hidden images.

“There is herbivores hunted by tigers and leopards and, in a case, by a emphasis added. In the hands, we found rPoultry and Presentations“, Says Caspari.“ For his antiquity and the vivid artistic style, the Pansyryk tattoos are truly special“.

“One of the birds It looks like a rooster ”it says Aaron Deter-WolfMember of the Tennessee Archeology Division team. “But the tattooed Pansyryk bodies have a mixture of realistic and fantastic animalsso it is possible that the artist did not intend that the bird represented a royal creature“.

Some of the tattoos found in the mummy of Pastor Pazoyryk

The team also discovered How the tattoos were made. “Our analysis shows that tattoos were created through the direct puncture method, not by incision or ‘sewing’ on the skin,” explains Deter-Wolf.

Data from various cultures suggest that a method has been used currently known as hand-pokingwhere a needle is dipped in paint and then spotted on the skin, Creating a point image. Their tattoos were also made with carbon pigmentsprobably derived from coal, soot or gray.

The tattoos in the right forearm of women were more technical and detailed than those on the left, which suggests that they may have been made by different people with distinct levels of expertiseDIZ CASH.

“Our study demonstrates that tattooing was not only a common practice in eurasian steppes for over 2000 years, but also makes it clear that it was a specialized office that required a lot of knowledge and practice“He concludes.