Even more famous than the Pazyryk Chieftan mummy is that of the Ice Maiden, who has captured the imagination of many with her mysterious burial and beautiful tattoos.

Maybe it's because she was young, her blond hair and other clues suggesting she was only about age 25 at the time of her death. Maybe it was because she was ornately burried in the fashion of royalty, highly unusual for a single woman. Shewas burried with six horses, a symbol of high status, and her dress was of beautifully decorated silk. There were many other decorations that indicated she was held in special regard in Pazyryk society, despite her apparant youth and gender in such typically patriarchal times. Perhaps she was a high priestess or the daughter of a powerful chieftan or could she have been a supreme ruler of her people herself? There is little doubt that the mystery of the Ice Maiden is behind her powerful appeal. 

Like the other Pazyryk mummies, the Ice Maiden was tattooed with depictions of real and mythical animals in the distinctive Pazyryk style, the designs morphing into flowers in places, their hindquarters curiously twisted. Did this indicate animals hunted and killed? Was it to give the creatures an appearance of movement, to depict their spirit essence that the Pazyryk were attempting to capture? All we can do is guess about the details of the lives of the Ice Maiden and the Pazyryk people. Though we have managed to ressurect part of their past, some fo their story was burried along with them, deeper than we can reach.