In the south of the Altai Republic, it became world famous with the discovery of frozen burials of ancient Scythian times here. The plateau has long been interesting to archaeologists for the presence of sites, unique stone altars and burial mounds.
Start of work near the Ak-Alakha River
At the height of the summer archaeological season of 1993, a group of Novosibirsk scientists led by Natalya Polosmak, employees of the Institute of Archeology of the SB RAS, began excavation of a mound near the Ak-Alakha river. The work promised to be one of the ordinary, but unexpectedly led to serious discoveries and scientific sensations.
Secret tomb
First, the burial of a very rich Scythian man was discovered. According to ancient customs, he was accompanied on his afterlife journey by three horses, dishes, and iron blades. Experts dated the burial to the 4th-3rd centuries. BC. While working with the male burial, the researchers were surprised to discover that under the upper burial there was a carefully hidden second one. Under the open flooring, a real sensation awaited the scientists. Here were the well-preserved bones of six fiery red horses in richly decorated harness; next to them, in the ice of a burial log, lay a woman.
Unusual mummy
But most of all, the researchers of the mound were interested in the fact that it was a mummified body, neither in Egypt nor in Tibet, but on the harsh high plateau of Altai. The woman had no internal organs, brain, sternum or ribs. Her skull and body cavities were filled with sheep's wool, plant parts, horse hair and peat.
Embalmed with oils female body, mercury was later discovered in the oils, unusual blue tattoos are immediately visible. They covered the woman's arms and legs. The composition included argali and snow leopards, apparently the totem animals of her family. The left shoulder was decorated with an image of a deer with a griffin's head.
The most important event for specialists was the discovery in the burial of a perfectly preserved original horsehair wig and headdress of the buried woman. Together they took up almost a third of the burial deck. In ancient Scythian society, it was the shape of the headdress and hair decoration that carried very accurate information about the woman. In different tribes it always had a specific shape, and the status of a woman was always clearly visible from the decorations of the headdress. When young girls got married, they changed gender, and their hair and headdress changed accordingly.
In a larch frame filled with ice, simulating a dwelling, measuring 3.6 / 2.3 m, with a height of 1.1 m, covered with eleven larch logs, there is a funeral log. It is decorated with leather appliqués in the shape of deer. In the deck, on a soft mat of felt, under a fur blanket with gold decorations, lay a tall woman, 170 cm tall; scientists determined her age to be approximately 25 years old.
The mummy was dressed in a long shirt made of the finest silk of a light brown shade; later scientists found out that threads from the cocoons of wild silkworm butterflies were used in its manufacture. Such fabric was undoubtedly a luxury in Scythian times, which confirms the high social status of the buried person. The neck and sleeves of the shirt were trimmed with red threads, apparently as a talisman. A long thick skirt made of wool, sewn from white and red pieces of fabric, decorated with bronze pendants. The woman's legs are covered with long white felt stockings with red appliqués.
The bag contained a bronze mirror, its carved wooden frame decorated with a figurine of a deer. Nearby, a leafy stick was found - a symbol of creation among Asian peoples, a hair brush, multi-colored glass beads and a human tooth. Blue powder was scattered around; chemical analysis showed that these were vivianite crystals; in Europe it began to be used as a dye only in the 19th century.
The neck of the buried woman was decorated with a hryvnia coated with a gold layer and pendants in the shape of snow leopards. The woman's ears are decorated with massive gold hoop-shaped earrings. Vessels, apparently for drinks, and pieces of meat were found with the buried Scythian woman; a delicious rump of a foal and a fat tail of a ram were found here. The vessels are wooden, ceramic and horn, apparently personifying the connection of all living things. There is no wooden floor in the burial; it was replaced by a flooring made of laid river pebbles.
Features of the burial
All the features of the burial distinguished the woman with special honor from the general ranks of her fellow tribesmen. Especially the silk and coriander were a real treasure. Scientists were surprised by the fact that the burial was single; family burials were typical for the Scythians. The only explanation could be that she was a shaman and took a vow of celibacy.
It was decided to transport the priceless find to a laboratory in Novosibirsk for further study. Local shamans and residents of the republic were absolutely against this development of events. While still on the road and later in Novosibirsk, the unique mummified body began to quickly decompose. Novosibirsk specialists urgently turn to the capital for help. The Moscow Institute, which is involved in the preservation of Lenin's mummy, worked with the mummy, and specialists managed to preserve the skin and tissue.
Scientific sensation
At this time, they took samples of various tissues for DNA analysis, and here specialists were waiting scientific sensation. As a result of a genetic study of several types of tissue from a buried woman on the Ukok plateau, the Y-chromosomal haplogroup R1a1, characteristic of the Slavs, was found. The Altai princess is not related by blood to the Turkic peoples and modern Altaians, but is a representative of one of the Indo-European peoples.
Shamans and residents of the Altai Republic are very concerned about the opening of the ancient tomb; they believe that scientists have disturbed the thousand-year-old peace of their ancestors. And the subsequent catastrophic earthquake in the fall of 2003 and the flood in the spring of 2014, many alarming processes and signs are attributed to the mythical revenge of the Altai princess.
A new look at historical processes
The results of many years of research into the most valuable find of Siberian scientists, the Altai mummy, forced them to re-evaluate the historical processes in ancient Eurasia. After all, a highly culturally developed Eurasian civilization has been discovered that lived 25 centuries ago, capable of changing the idea of the history of Russia.
Myths about the Altai princess
Archaeologists do not quite like the name of the unique mummy “Altai princess”. Repeatedly, both N. Polosmak and V. Molodin emphasize that she is not a princess, she is an ordinary Scythian woman, and the myth about the so-called “princess” is constantly inflated by journalists. During 1998, UNESCO decided to include the Ukok Plateau on the list of significant world heritage sites.
From time to time, representatives of the indigenous people and shamans appear in the press and on television with stories that the Altai mummy is dissatisfied with the opening of the tomb. The chain of mystical events during the discovery of the burial and its delivery to the Novosibirsk laboratory confirms their reasoning. As before, the Altai public calls her the ancestor of the Altai people, Princess Kadyn.
Relocation of the Altai Princess
While the priceless artifact was in the Novosibirsk museum, Altaians were massively collecting signatures asking to return the princess to her homeland. To store this particular mummy in the republican one in Gorno-Altaisk, with the sponsorship of Gazprom, a general reconstruction was carried out and a special sarcophagus chamber was built with certain conditions. In 2012, the mummy, revered by the Altai people, was solemnly welcomed in its homeland.
Today it is carefully kept in the Republican Museum, where an entire exhibition is dedicated to the Ak-Alakha mound. Museum guests can view a wonderful reconstruction of the burial, but they will not be able to see the mummies. Local shamans prohibit displaying the mummy. Now they are initiating the collection of signatures with a request to the authorities to bury her solemnly and worthy of ancient times in her native mound.
The authorities of the republic allowed specialists to explain on local television how unique this find is and how necessary it is for scientists. There was even a series of programs explaining the natural disasters that befell the republic from a scientific point of view. But indigenous people Altai, brought up in the traditions of paganism and local shamanism, firmly believes that all the troubles that came to their mountains were the consequences of the wrath of the dead.
Back to the Ukok plateau?
Shamans and public figures from the indigenous population everywhere and constantly emphasize the idea that when the mummy of the ancestor of the Altai people calms down, all troubles will subside. Now there is a serious dispute between shamans and scientists. Some do not deviate from their age-old traditions, others see in the mummified body of the Altai princess a unique and interesting object for research. Without an ice lens that preserves the body in the event of burial, this mummy will be lost for science and for the Altai people forever.
The belief of the indigenous Altai people that the mummy must be buried in the same place has only strengthened over the years. And on August 18, 2014, the Altai Council of Elders took place. At this event, the elders of the Altai zaisan clans voted almost unanimously for the decision to bury the mummy of the Altai princess in her mound on the Ukok plateau. The authorities of the republic are meeting the decision of the elders halfway, and a draft republican law on this important event for the local population is being prepared.
Shamans believe that it was not in vain that the ancient inhabitants of Altai hid the mummy under another burial, that it was entrusted with the sacred mission of guarding the gates of the underworld. And the peace of such sacred burials cannot be disturbed. Ancient people were undoubtedly wiser than our contemporaries; they understood the laws of the universe more broadly and had more serious knowledge.
Video about the Altai princess
The worst flood in Altai in the last half century has again given local residents reason to talk about the curse of the “Princess of Ukok.” This is what the indigenous Altai people call the mummy of a woman found by archaeologists in 1993 on the sacred Ukok plateau. In their opinion, by disturbing the tomb, scientists brought misfortune to Altai. Recently, a group of Altai social activists again appealed to the authorities with a request to bury the “princess” in order to avoid new natural disasters.
The authors of the appeal from the Volya party claim: since the “princess” was removed from the grave, Altai has been engulfed in forest fires and hurricanes, and the suicide and morbidity rates have increased markedly. Earthquakes, which had not happened for a hundred years before, became more frequent. Supporters of the burial recalled that from the very beginning the opening of the tomb was accompanied by bad omens: the sky that day was rocked by thunder and lightning. When archaeologists tried to take the mummy to Novosibirsk, the engines of their cars failed, and the helicopter did not take off.
This summer, more than 40 thousand people have already suffered from catastrophic floods in Altai. Dams, bridges, and a hydroelectric power station were destroyed, and hundreds of settlements were flooded. Thousands of local residents were left homeless. Several people died. The governor of the Altai Territory has already stated that the region has not previously experienced disasters of this scale. Among local residents, there was again talk about the mystical background of the flood, and the newspapers were full of sensational investigations.
Altai social activists suddenly remembered that on the eve of the flood, the “princess” appeared in a dream to one of the archaeologists who found her and promised to sail to her homeland if she was not buried. Some local journalists were quick to report that the water had reached the ominous exhibit in the National Museum of Gorno-Altaisk and almost carried it away. But the museum workers themselves denied this information and assured everyone that the mummy was safe.
Now supporters of the burial are frightening the population with a new world war, which will come if “the will of the princess is not fulfilled.” As an example, they cite the well-known legend about Tamerlane’s grave, immediately after its opening in 1941 the Great Patriotic War began.
Altai Tibet
Altai shamans call the mummy their ancestor - Princess Kydyn, the patroness of Altai, who was revered at all times. Followers of Altai folk beliefs believe that the woman was a priestess and died voluntarily in order to protect the Earth from evil spirits from her burial mound. According to one legend, Kydyn stood guard at the gates of the underworld and did not allow creatures that feed on people’s fear and destroy the harmony of existence to come to the surface.
According to shamans, mummy tattoos contain important information for humanity, but the time has not yet come to decipher them. Some even claim that the "princess" is a living woman who is sleeping, but may wake up if she is not returned to her burial place.
Over the past twenty years, the history of the Altai mummy has become overgrown with so many myths that they can be retold endlessly. Some call her the murdered daughter of a Scythian shaman, others call her a powerful sorceress. This is not surprising, because the Ukok plateau itself, where the burial was found, has been shrouded in an aura of sacredness and mysticism since ancient times.
The Altaians call Ukok “the beginning of the firmament,” where the world of people comes into contact with the world of the gods. Here it is forbidden to slaughter livestock, drink alcohol, litter, or even shout loudly. Breaking these taboos is considered sacrilege. IN different times here they tried to find Scythian gold and even the gates to the legendary Shambhala.
Obvious and incredible
The grave of the “foremother of the Altai people” was discovered in 1993 by a group of Novosibirsk archaeologists. The mummy of a young girl rested in an ice lens and was therefore well preserved. Scientists have found that the girl lived more than 2,500 years ago and died at the age of about 25 years. According to experts, she was not any princess and rather belonged to the middle strata of Scythian society. Moreover, according to DNA analysis, the girl was of Indo-European, and not Turkic (Altai) origin.
Scientists are perplexed: in the middle of the last century, on the Pazyryk mounds they found several equally valuable and interesting mummies, which are now kept in the Hermitage. But for some reason the Altai public does not remember about them. But any emergency in the region, elections or local budget deficit is inevitably accompanied by a fuss about the burial of the “princess”.
Blaming innocent bones for all troubles has become almost a tradition in Altai. In addition, the mummy of Kydyn has long turned into one of the brands of the region, and the further it goes, the more its burial will contradict the interests of the region. After all, tourists from all over the country come to the Republican Museum to see the mystical exhibit. So it’s too early to put an end to the story with the “Princess of Ukok”.
Ulyana Ivanova
Altai is called the “Cradle of the World,” meaning that it was from here that humanity began its journey. This sacred land still holds many mysteries to this day.
The meaning of the Turochak writings
In 1975, on the steep cliffs off the left bank of the Biya River, seven kilometers from the village of Turochak, amazing two-meter rock paintings were discovered: more than two dozen walking moose.
Stylistic analysis of the images made it possible to attribute them to the Bronze Age and, with a high degree of probability, to associate them with the Karakol culture, which existed in the 2nd century BC. e. But how did these unique for Altai appear? cave drawings, is not completely clear. The distinctive features of the Turochak paintings were not only the choice of characters, but also the material with which the drawings were created - red ocher, atypical for Altai petroglyphs.
The researchers were also amazed by the dynamics and expressiveness of the images, which were painted on a steep and difficult-to-reach surface. But the main mystery remains their meaning. What did the ancient “artists” try to tell their descendants?
Woman with tattoo
The sacred Ukok plateau in the south of Altai is a place that attracts both daredevils who decide to test themselves and numerous researchers. The world scientific community began to discuss its main secret relatively recently, in 1993, when archaeologists under the leadership of Doctor of Historical Sciences Natalya Polosmak discovered a mummified body at the excavations of the Ak-Alakh burial ground, the estimated age of which is 2.5 thousand years.
The perfectly preserved find allowed scientists to conduct a DNA examination and restore the appearance of the 25-year-old girl. Her facial features were not Mongoloid, but rather resembled European ones. The waist of Princess Ukok was decorated with a red belt - a symbol of a warrior; in her hands she clutched a larch wand - an instrument of “creation of the world”, and her head was crowned with a high headdress with golden braids - an attribute of a woman possessing magical powers and keeping the secret of immortality.
On her body, tattoos of a deer-ibex with a griffin's beak, a ram with an thrown back head, and a spotted leopard, made in the Scythian "animal" style, were found. All this, as well as a leafy deck, similar to a shaman’s boat, Rotyk, and six “heavenly” horses buried here, indicated that not a common person. Altai shamans are sure that this is the body of the legendary ancestor of their people - Kydyn, with the “desecration” of whose burial all the troubles of Altai began.
Academician Vyacheslav Molodin, under whose leadership a large-scale study of the Altai highlands was carried out, is convinced that “this is not a princess, but a representative of the middle stratum of Pazyryk society” of the 6th-3rd centuries BC. e. Perhaps she was a sorceress or healer. However, who the Altai princess really was, as she was called, will remain a mystery.
The eighth wonder of the world
The Ukok Plateau has other secrets. For example, mysterious geoglyphs were discovered here - huge images that can only be viewed from considerable distances, usually from a bird's eye view. It is unclear for what purpose they were created.
The age of geoglyphs is another controversial issue. For a long time It was believed that they appeared 1.5-2 thousand years ago, but the latest research has shown that the time of their origin is the 3rd-2nd centuries BC. e. Scientists are also trying to figure out why, over such a long period of time, geological processes did not destroy the geoglyphs?
Finally, they have yet to understand the meaning of the “messages.” Although the outlines of many of them are easy to “read”, the idea of the ancient artists still remains a mystery. Scientists rightly call geoglyphs the eighth wonder of the world and continue their search, while ufologists are trying to prove their theory about the location of alien airfields in these places.
Altai stonehenge
Thousands of tourists visit the Chui steppe to see the Altai Stonehenge. Five huge boulders up to seven meters high are decorated with petroglyphs - drawings from the time of the Pazyryk culture. One of the blocks differs from the others by the crossbar placed on it, the other is made in the form of a throne chair.
Researchers are sure that ancient shamans used this place for rituals. In this case, most likely, the stones were specially delivered from other places. A study of their structure showed that the material does not occur in the nearby mountains. According to legend, the boulders were brought by the ancient Scythians from afar, 500 kilometers away.
The age of the Altai Stonehenge presumably dates back to the 8th-6th centuries BC. e. The stones are installed in the direction of the cardinal points and, according to observations, have differently charged electromagnetic fields. Tourists who ventured into the center of the “stone fence” said that it was as if they were being sucked into a funnel. About the true purpose of the Altai stonehenge and its magical power they are still guessing.
"Denisovan" or "Altai man"
Denisovskaya Cave is located in the valley of the Anui River, which the keepers of Altai traditions call “the path to the mysterious Belovodye”. In this world-famous archaeological site, many cultural and historical monuments were discovered. In 2009, among other finds, a phalanx of a little girl’s finger was found, and a little earlier, a molar tooth of an 18-year-old boy.
The artifacts were sent to the M. Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig. The analysis showed that their owners were representatives of a new ancient human population. So far, Russian, American and Canadian scientists are finding it difficult to give an exact answer: whether we are talking about a new species or subspecies, so they use the neutral one - “Denisovan” or “Altai man”.
Supposedly a million years ago, it “deviated from the branch general development human" and evolved in an independent and, as it turned out, dead-end way.
“Denisovan” genes have not been found in any representative of modern civilization, with the exception of Melanesians, whose ancestors, according to scientists, could have had contact with “Denisovans” in East Asia.
The find completely destroyed the stereotypical idea of the ancient inhabitants of the planet and suggested that 50 thousand years ago Neanderthals lived in the western part of Eurasia, and “Denisovans” lived in the eastern part. Could they interact, and what caused the disappearance of the “Altai Man” - questions for which answers have not yet been found.
Center of the Universe
Many researchers correlate the highest Altai mountain Belukha with the sacred Mount Meru. In particular, the Russian philosopher Nikolai Fedorov tried to confirm this theory. Using a map depicting the sacred Mount Meru, dated to the 2nd century BC. e., Turkologist Murat Adzhi developed a popular hypothesis.
One of the arguments was the similarity of the location of ancient Meru and modern Belukha. At equal distances from Meru were the four then known oceans, and Belukha was equally distant from the Indian, Pacific and Arctic Oceans. Where did the fourth ocean go? It may have existed west of Belukha during Atlantean times, but subsequently disappeared. Other “evidence” includes the possibility all year round observe the Big Dipper over Altai and the consonance of the ancient name of Belukha - “Uch Sumer” - with the toponym “Meru”.
In search of freedom
In the Russian consciousness, Altai is inseparable from the legendary and mystical country of Belovodye, the abode of freedom and immortality. The popularization of the legend is usually associated with the Old Believers-runners who flocked to Altai in search of better life and showed the way to everyone who was thirsty with the help of “guidebooks”, where the path to Belovodye was described in an allegorical form. Russian scientist and philosopher Nicholas Roerich associated the Slavic idea with Buddhist legends about Shambhala. He declared the unity of Altai, India and Tibet and was confident that they were components of one energy system, which has been preserved since the times of Atlantis. Is it possible today to find a way to the Land of Justice and Virtue? The search for an answer to this question lies, rather, in the field of spiritual knowledge.
In this article we will try to touch on a topic about which a lot has been written, said, reported, and even filmed. We will not look for exact and unambiguous answers to the many questions that arise in connection with this story. Our task is to look at this story from a different angle, as abstractly as possible and without taking it out of the general context.
year 2009. Hollywood. Performing Arts Championship. Talented participants take to the stage one after another, showing national costumes, performing music, and dancing. They reveal the folk spirit and special energy hidden behind the external surroundings. More precisely, this surroundings are national costumes, folk traditions in the performance of music, songs are harmoniously combined with a spiritual component. 54 countries of the world are represented here, including 4 regions of our country.
Cheynesh Baytushkina, the daughter of the Altai people, represents the Altai Republic. Holding her breath, she walked onto the stage in complete silence. Her outfit is truly unusual. Particularly impressive is the tall and complex headdress and tattoos on the shoulder. The girl is dressed in a reconstructed outfit of the famous Princess Ukok. Famous for many, but perhaps not for everyone present in this room, not for all members of the jury. The archaic comus turned out to be the addition that made this picture complete. The jury could not resist - the Altai Republic, represented by Cheinesh, received three gold medals and the title of absolute world champion, winning in the nominations “Instrumentalist of the original genre” and “ National Costume" This unusual continuation received the story of the Ukok Princess.
The burial of the Altai Princess was found in 1993 on the Ukok plateau. Since then, debates have not subsided about the significance of this discovery, about the status of the Princess herself, and in general - what to do next, how this story will end and whether it will end at all.
Ukok Plateau
So, the Ukok plateau. The first thing to say. The term “plateau” is not entirely correct here. It is more correct to say “plateau”. Lost in the south of Altai, at the junction of four states: Russia, Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan, this unique natural area one of the most mysterious and enigmatic. The southern border is the grandiose domes of the Tabyn-Bogdo-Ola massif, the northern border is the valley of the Dzhazator River. In the east there is the Sailyugem ridge and the upper reaches of the same river Dzhazator. The Dzhumalinsky springs are the actual eastern border of the plateau. It is more difficult to determine the western borders. There is no consensus here. They are lost somewhere in the upper reaches of the Kara-Alakha and Koksu. But this situation with ambiguous definition of boundaries is quite common. Try to draw a clear boundary between Altai and Sayan Mountains!
Two basins, Kalgutinskaya and Bertekskaya, are the heart of Ukok. And often they are called Ukok! This is where the main archaeological sites. The territory of these valleys is significantly lower (2200-2400 m) than the surrounding ridges (3000-4000 m). Since ancient times it was used for cattle breeding, “it was residential.” And this is where the versions begin. According to one of them, Ukok has always been a holy place, inaccessible. Moreover, people were brought here for burial. It was a kind of cemetery - the acropolis of Altai and not only. In particular, this applies to the Scythian time. But there are other opinions.
Without begging for the peculiarities and uniqueness of Ukok, it is worth noting that in Altai there are quite a few other places where historical monuments are concentrated. This is the Chui steppe, and the Chui valley, and the Pazyryk valley, and the Karakol valley, etc. There is no less, and somewhere more monuments. There are no less places with a large concentration of mounds (and other artifacts) throughout the Altai-Sayan territory. And another thing that often doesn’t fit in our heads is whether a holy, sacred place can be used for life, and not just for “death.” Of course, in Altai there are places that the local population has been prohibited from visiting since ancient times. Is this what the Ukok plateau is like? In the Altai worldview, “ordinary” life and sacred rituals. Moreover, both nature and home are a temple. Therefore, perhaps Ukok was the “heavenly pasture” that people dreamed of. It’s the same as Belovodye for Russians. Both are intended for life, but a pure and righteous life, a life of prosperity.
Kobdinsky tract
Now about something else - about the inaccessibility of Ukok. When you drive along the Chuysky tract, you think that traveling around Altai has always been so easy and pleasant. Today, the roads are quite well-maintained and the Chuisky tract, in fact, connects “east” and “west” (even if only in a local sense). But it is less than 100 years old, and before that there was the impassable Chuya trade route, which was not only inaccessible for wheeled travel, but also dangerous for movement on horseback. On the way there was the muddy Seminsky Pass, the steep Chike-Taman, deadly booms and crossings on the Katun, and then on the Chuya. One of the boms on the Katun - Kor-Kechu - is translated as “disastrous crossing”. Of course, Altai was not a dead end in the connections of neighboring regions. But the movements could not be massive and easy character. Altai was a kind of “fortress” where one could sit out. Ideas, foundations, and orders were “preserved” here. But here, as history shows, they originated.
The territory of Ukok is located in the extreme south of the Altai Republic, but hardly in the center of the Greater Altai, the ridges of which extend into Kazakhstan, China and especially deep into Mongolia. Today there are only three roads on the plateau: through the Bugymuiz (Bugumuyus) pass, through the Teply Klyuch pass and through the old Teply Klyuch pass. They all come from the north and are quite complex. You can drive along them only 2-3 months a year and then with significant difficulties. Off-road vehicles and experienced drivers required. The other two routes, through the Ulan-Daba pass from Mongolia and the Ukok pass from Kazakhstan, are closed today due to the lack of border crossings. But they are the key ones in the topic that we want to touch upon.
The Mongolian route was previously used by border guards - this makes it much easier to get to the outposts located on Ukok. From the Kazakhstan side, archaeologists climbed Ukok when they were doing excavations. All this is said to mean that this Mongolia-Kazakhstan through route was and is relatively simple for east-west travel. At one time it even received the name Kobdinsky tract. From Mongolian Kobdo (Khovd) the route passed through the territory of Ukok and further to the Bukhtarma region and the Irtysh region. Later it was the Chinese postal route. And in Soviet times, cattle were transported along this route from Mongolia to Semipalatinsk, to the largest meat processing plant in the USSR. The Kobda tract, which existed since ancient times, was nothing more than the northernmost branch of the Silk Road. And it was a fairly busy “highway”.
This is where the question arises: did people live here or did they just move around and use it for burials? Many Ukok tracts (such as Bertek) are covered with good grass and rich in salt marshes; they are excellent winter pastures. Not much snow falls on the open mountain plain, and even that is soon blown away by the wind. The wintering quarters of the shepherds are located along the edges of the valley at the northern and southern bases of the mountain slopes, where there is protection from wind and bad weather. Every year, about 20 families of shepherds live on the Ukok plateau in autumn and winter. Most of them are from Jazator. And each of them has tens and hundreds of animals - sheep, horses, cows and yaks. Herds graze only in their own territory, the border of which runs along a stream, lake or cliff. Ancient pastoralists grazed cattle here for a long time.
Excavations
Summer 1993. Ukok. Excavations of a small mound are underway. It was plundered in ancient times and later severely damaged during the construction of the road. This was the burial of a Karakoban warrior, in which two iron knives, two clay vessels, and fragments of gold foil were preserved. Three horses were buried with him. This could have all ended there, but Natalya Polosmak, who led the excavations, showed intuition not only in choosing this mound, but in digging further. And then came the most interesting thing - the log house, the permafrost. And that meant a lot. This meant that the lower burial was untouched and could become a real discovery. The burial chamber was opened for several days, gradually melting the ice, trying not to harm the contents. At the very bottom of the pit stood a burial chamber made of larch, decorated on the outside with leather appliques depicting deer. Behind its northern wall lay the skeletons of six horses. Only a person of very high social status could possess such a number of riding horses.
In front of the sarcophagus there was a dish on which lay a piece of meat with a bronze knife stuck into it, vessels made of wood, horn and ceramics. The Princess's body was practically untouched by decay. She was tall, wearing a worn silk shirt and a red and white wool skirt wrapped around her hips. On her belt hung a bag with cosmetics and a silver mirror in a wooden frame. On her feet are high felt boots, and in her ears are gold earrings. On her shaved head, under a 90 cm high headdress, she wore a horsehair wig. Her arms were covered with elaborate tattoos, and next to her stood a cup of coriander seeds.
According to many evidences, during the excavations, strange natural phenomena were observed in the form of a small earthquake and thunder. By a strange coincidence, none of the machines at the disposal of archaeologists turned out to be in working order. The archaeologists, along with their finds, were evacuated home in two helicopters. Between Barnaul and Novosibirsk, the helicopter in which Natalya was flying with the mummy made an emergency landing - one of the engines stalled. We got to Novosibirsk by car.
Mound
The Princess Mound is quite modest in size - only 18 m in diameter. The royal mounds in Altai reach 50 m in diameter or more. On the same Ukok there is more than one mound with dimensions significantly larger than 18 m. If we take into account the entire territory of the Altai-Sayan, then the sizes of the largest burials cannot be compared at all. 120 m – the size of the largest Scythian mound in this territory, located in the “Valley of the Kings”, in Tuva. You can read about this in an article in one of the issues of the online magazine “ARU-KEM” (). The peculiarity of the Princess mound was that it was a double burial. And this doesn't happen very often. Often relatives were later “buried” in the mounds, but this is radically different from our case. The upper burial was independent, it seemed to hide what was below.
In the same Tuva, in the same “Valley of the Kings”, the Arzhan-2 mound was opened in 2002, where the undisturbed burial of the king and queen was found. Archaeologists have never seen such wealth in the Scythian mounds of Siberia. It became even unclear how to count gold items. The clothes were covered with thousands of gold plaques, and the pants were covered with countless small gold beads. Gold items accumulated by 20 kg. The Princess's burial in this case looks very modest. But, as befits persons close to the cult, her clothing and accompaniment have, first of all, sacred meaning. And six golden horses and a unique headdress. Clothes made of the finest silk, a material practically never used in these parts, are framed by a thick red belt. Archaeologists believe that such a belt is a sign of a warrior and initiate. And the larch stirring stick found in her hands is an extremely important ritual symbol: even in pre-Buddhist times, such sticks were considered an instrument for the creation of the world and were placed in the hands of the highest divine persons. And, of course, tattoos and the ritual of mummification are unique - more on that below.
Unique headdress
A few words about the unique headdress. And again, the reader will not be amazed by how much gold was allocated for its production, the point is different - its size, complex design and, of course, impressive appearance. The wig headdress took up almost a third of the deck. It must be said that in ancient times it was the headdress and hairstyle that carried the most significant information about a person; each tribe had its own shape, and a person’s status within the tribe could be “read” by his jewelry. The shaved head of a Pazyryk woman was covered with a wig consisting of a felt cap, onto which a special plastic material was applied. Wooden ornaments were sewn to the wig and covered with gold foil. On the crown of the head, the hair was specially collected into a bun, on top of which a “cone” made of wool threads Red. The cone was crowned by a wooden deer standing on a ball, all covered with gold foil. Another carved deer with a forked body and ibex horns “lay” on a wig in front of the “cone”. At the back of the “cone”, a tall vertical structure made of felt was attached to the wig in the form of a rectangle with rounded edges (61 cm), covered with black woolen fabric, which, apparently, was a symbol of the “tree of life”: wooden deer “grazed” at its foot, at the top Fifteen composite wooden birds with leather wings, tails and legs, and long necks, like swans, were attached to the parts. All figures are made of cedar and covered with gold foil. In addition, a pointed cap made of felt, 84 cm long and with wide brims, was found in the log house, which in some cases was worn over a complex hairstyle.
Mummies
How unique is the fact of mummification in world culture and the culture of the Scythians? Many mummies have been found in the world. This is a separate and large topic. Here it is only worth saying that there is both natural and ritual mummification. Often a mummy is preserved thanks to their combination. And this is exactly our case. The woman's brain, internal organs, ribs and sternum were removed, the skull and abdominal cavity were filled with a substance like peat, sheep wool, horse hair, roots, sand and clay. Another nuance is that embalming was not some kind of privilege of the nobility - ordinary soldiers were also embalmed. In addition to sacred reasons, there may have been quite natural ones. Embalming the dead was a necessary part funeral rite among the Pazyryk people. The fact is that they buried their dead only twice a year - in the spring or early summer, and in the fall, that is, six months often passed from the moment of a person’s death to his burial. The construction of the mound, where a lens of permafrost was created - ice that preserved the burial for thousands of years - played an additional, and possibly decisive role in its preservation.
The Princess's mummy has gained particular fame, but is she alone among the archaeological discoveries of the Scythian world of Siberia? Far from it! Mummies have been found in Altai burial mounds before, many of which are now kept in the Hermitage. But in Soviet times due to the inaccessibility of conservation technologies, all of them were not preserved so well - they darkened and dried out. First of all, this applies to discoveries in the Great Pazyryk mounds. On that Ukok plateau, 2 years after the discovery of the Princess’s burial, in 1995, at the Verkh-Kaldzhin-ll monument, a male mummy with a perfectly preserved hairstyle and a tattoo of a huge “Scythian” deer on his shoulder was found. The warrior was buried in clothes, with a full set of weapons and in a magnificent sheepskin coat, decorated with leather appliqué and a wide “tail”.
Later, a discovery was made, better known as Cleopatra's Beads. Not far from the village of Manzherok in the Altai Republic, Novosibirsk archaeologists discovered in a mound from the Scythian period the mummy of a woman wearing beads around her neck. According to archaeologists, the beads were made in Egypt during the reign of the Ptolemaic dynasty there. This assumption allows us to make original technique bead making, which was practiced by the Egyptians at that time.
In 2008, a Scythian warrior was found in the Mongolian Altai, in an intact burial mound, in a zone close to the glaciers. The warrior, who was obviously rich, was covered in beaver and sable furs, as well as sheepskin. The intact skin on his upper body is covered in tattoos. But the most striking feature of the mummy was the hair: the man turned out to be a distinct blond. True, the hair could turn yellow after death. Two horses with richly decorated saddles and bridles, weapons, vessels made of clay and animal horns were placed in the grave next to the warrior to accompany him into the afterlife.
Most of the mummies of the Scythian-Siberian world are located high in the mountains, in conditions where permafrost persists. And just recently, in the Rubtsovsky district of the Altai Territory, in one of the Royal burial mounds of the Bugry monument, a unique mummy of the Scythian period was discovered. In this case, everyone was surprised by the preserved manicure on the woman’s hand. The body of a woman who died in the 4th century BC was well preserved by clothing covered with copper plaques, the oxides of which help preserve organic material. This is one of the few, if not the only, finds of mummies made in Siberia in the forest-steppe zone.
Another male mummy was found back in 1969 in Khakassia. The “Oglakhta” man belonged to the Tashtyk archaeological culture, widespread in the Minusinsk Basin about two thousand years ago. The mummies from Khakassia had tattoos. And more on this later.
Tattoos
The tattoos on the mummy from Khakassia were visible to the naked eye. But extensive research was not carried out on the find, and once she was in clothes, she did not immediately show the tattoos to the world! The mummies from the Pazyryk burial mounds had tattoos, but they were barely visible on only one of them. And then to this fact special attention they didn't pay either. The issue of tattoos became more acute after the discovery of the same Princess. Several tattoos on her were so clearly visible that this issue received new impetus for research. The Princess has both arms tattooed from her shoulders to her hands. Images are also applied to some phalanges of the fingers of both hands. Drawings of blue color stood out well against the white skin, but they were preserved only on the left hand, on the right - only fragments on the wrist and thumb. On the left shoulder there is a depiction of a fantastic animal - a deer with the beak of a vulture, the antlers of a deer and a capricorn - the Altai long-eared griffin. The horns are decorated with vulture heads; a similar head is placed on the back of the animal, which is shown with a “twisted” body. Below, a ram is depicted in the same pose with its head thrown back; at his feet is the closed mouth of a spotted leopard with a long curled tail.
This discovery prompted scientists to resume research into tattoos on previously found mummies. And by serendipity a method was found for detecting them on fairly decayed skin. The already mentioned mummy from Khakassia was examined and photographed in reflected infrared rays. The same was done with three mummies from the Second and Fifth Pazyryk mounds. It turned out that all the mummies have tattooed designs. The method works thanks to the soot contained in the dye used for the tattoo. In the photographs, the dark skin of the mummies looks very light, and the tattoos stand out contrastingly and clearly. Mummies found later in Ukok and the Mongolian Altai also had tattoos. But still, the most beautiful, mysterious and obviously endowed with a special sacred meaning tattoos belong to the Princess. This was another reason to talk about the special status of women. Although exact value No one has explained the drawings yet.
The story continues
A special surge of interest in the Altai Princess occurred after the earthquake of 2003. Then the local population accused archaeologists that the terrible events were nothing more than the consequences of excavations on Ukok. Since then and to this day, disputes have not subsided about who this woman was and the fact that she needs to be returned to the Altai Republic. And the demands to return here have different “shades” - from the fact that the mummy needs to be buried again in the mound to the fact that it should simply be in Gorno-Altaisk. We will not go into these disputes. Moreover, the author does not want to discuss such subtle issues in this article. Perhaps this is a matter for future articles.
What is the actual state of affairs today? Now the mummy is in Novosibirsk, in the museum of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences. Work on its study continues. But already in 2012 she should return to the Altai Republic. Today, the national museum in Gorno-Altaisk is being reconstructed, a special extension is being built, where the tomb itself will be built. Conditions will be created here to ensure the safety of the mummy as a cultural and biological object. The money was allocated by Gazprom, which is lobbying for the construction of a gas pipeline through Ukok. Never ending, one story leads to the next.
We have not touched upon such issues as the racial origin of the Princess, her place in Altai legends, the ethical issues of excavations, or the question of whether she could have been a “princess” at all. The last question especially irritates scientists, since the status assigned by the press does not fit into their ideas. But we are not scientists - it’s easier for us. But the most important thing is that such discoveries excite society and raise pressing and important questions. The story continues!
Video materials on the topic of Ukok and the Princess:
Each mound is a door to the past that can take us on an exciting journey into the unknown. But does every door have to be open? This is not only an ethical question, but also a security issue, sometimes the security of an entire region. How can one archaeological research turn into a disaster and where lies the border between science and mysticism? About this and much more in our article.
Ukok Plateau: sanctuary on five mountains
Famous natural Park Ukok is, in general, a typical natural park located in the Altai Republic. Nature here really requires a careful approach, because it is necessary to preserve such an earthly miracle. There are many species of animals, birds and plants listed in the Red Book. The park is divided into zones, only one of which has permission to admit tourists, the rest are intended for economic and scientific activity, and even then – within reason. And this activity does not stop, because even the current living nature of the plateau has not been fully studied.
The Ukok Plateau provides scientists with a wealth of information about the formation of the earth's topography, climatic conditions over thousands of years, glaciers and much more. In a word, there is something to see here, but for the peoples who lived here many years ago, this place had, perhaps, much more important. Firstly, the Ukok plateau itself has a name that translates as “the end of everything,” that is, the plateau was actually the “edge of the earth,” which was believed even before it became generally known that the Earth is spherical.
The world of spirits began behind the plateau, so shouting there or, moreover, littering and committing other antisocial acts was simply an unthinkable idea (but it was possible to collect herbs there or graze cattle, fish - there are lakes on the plateau). Dozens lived here different nations, who were quite satisfied with the local living conditions, and when scientists got here, they discovered a lot of household items that told about who lived here and what they did, and thanks to the cold climate, these things were preserved almost flawlessly.
One of the most valuable objects located on Ukok are the Scythian burial mounds, which are of great interest to archaeologists, historians, and anthropologists, although their study is now “frozen.” Why?
Mound of the Altai Princess
So, quite a few mounds were found on the Ukok plateau, and each of them is an excellent object for study, especially since burials in these territories were carried out over several eras (as a rule, when choosing a place for a cemetery, people stick to it for centuries). It is not so easy to gain access to them, and although the moratorium on excavations in these places expired several years ago, archaeologists are, to put it mildly, not welcome here. Moreover, everyone is not happy, from ordinary Altai residents to representatives of local authorities, who do not formally prohibit excavations on the Ukok Plateau, but even without direct prohibitions make them almost impossible.
Reconstruction of the princess's appearance The origins of such hostility come from a story related to the mummy of the Altai princess. One of the first mounds excavated was the Ak-Alakha mound, where a girl, later named the Altai princess, rested. She was young (scientists estimated her age at the time of death at 25 years old, and her burial was more than 25 centuries old, give or take two), rich, although, as researchers insist, she was not a princess in the literal sense of the word and did not even belong to upper strata society. She was buried in good silk and woolen clothes; the girl had tattoos on her arms, including one in the form of a griffin, the sacred symbol of these places.
It’s funny, but Herodotus also wrote about the inhabitants of these places as “vultures guarding gold,” which some translated as a poetic metaphor, but others built on this legend, according to which the Scythians could literally turn into birds of prey attacking the enemy .
Along with the princess of Ukok, 6 horses were buried, as well as numerous jewelry, which testified to the high wealth of the buried family. Her grave was encased in thick ice by nature, so almost all the details and the body itself were perfectly preserved, thanks to which it was possible to restore the girl’s appearance. Now the Altai princess is attributed to the Pyzyryk culture, although many signs indicate its uniqueness and the impossibility of attributing the body to any nationality with one hundred percent certainty.
It cannot be said that it was scientists who were the first to disturb its peace - excavations that began in 1993 showed that they tried to climb into the mound, and perhaps more than once, a very long time ago. Although Princess Ukok was not the first mummy to be taken from the plateau for further study, it was her “awakening” that entailed a lot strange stories, which became the basis for proceedings at the state level...
The deck in which the mummy of the Altai princess was buried Consequences of excavations
So, the scientists were happy with the discovery - something like this happens almost once every hundred years: a rich burial place that had not been plundered by looters; a mummy that can be carefully examined and many analyzes done, the results of which will certainly say a new word in science. However, when they learned about this find local residents, they were not happy at all. Moreover, they argued that the burial place of the Altai princess was well known to the majority of those living in this region of Altai, but no one dared to think about trying to penetrate the mound. And the Altai princess herself, even if she was not a princess in the literal sense of the word, was the patroness of these places, and her transportation to another place does not promise good.
Cave drawings So, the mummy was recovered in 1993 by the expedition of Natalya Polosmak. In the same year, a strong earthquake occurs in Altai, which does not lead to such casualties as, for example, the Japanese earthquake of 2012, but leads the area into panic. People are starting to say that this is payment for the disturbed peace of the princess, and, moreover, this is just the beginning.
Then in the same area there was a loss of livestock - it would seem sad, but nothing surprising, however, this was also attributed to the excavations. Since then, it has been the custom - to consider any misfortune as the consequences of the extraction of the princess, whom they called the ancestor of Kydym. They demanded that she be returned to her native land so stubbornly that - a rarity in our state - they finally gave in to the voice of the people, and conditionally the princess of Ukok was returned, placing it in one of the local museums, where an extension was specially created with special climatic conditions that allow the mummy to be preserved for a long time.
Tabyn-Bogdo-Ola - sacred mountain But not everyone is happy with this decision - local shamans claim that the princess of Altai has begun to speak and that she can truly wake up if she is not returned to the same mound. Moreover, they say that she is a “living woman who sleeps,” leaving us to imagine what will happen if she wakes up. But here scientists are already protesting - it is impossible to ensure the safety of the body in the same conditions, and the rest of the mounds will be destroyed over time if measures are not taken. However, it seems that this is not the end of the history of the Ukok burial mounds...
Despite all the mystical flair that surrounds the story of the Altai princess, there are always people who believe that this is complete nonsense and undertake to prove it by their own example by coming into contact with some sacred place, and there are others who believe in such stories and I would like to gain something from them for myself. There are also those who don’t care at all, as long as they can grill a kebab in a beautiful clearing. In any case, excessive tourist interest can seriously harm the fragile system of the Ukok plateau, therefore, as we said above, access to it is strictly limited, you can only get there with a pre-arranged excursion.
Some areas of the plateau (for example, the Golden Parks of Altai, representing forests that have preserved the rarest representatives of flora and fauna on the planet) are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. To be fair, it should be noted that this place is capable of protecting itself, since getting there is not so easy - the area around is quite swampy, rockfalls and other obstacles are frequent, limiting the influx of idle curious people.
Anastasia Berseneva
Ksenia Krzhizhanovskaya
