Tattoos and garnish of Altay princess
As we know, people tended to paint their body with dyes - the reminiscent of the ancient custom, for example, tilaks, the ancient signs of hinduism. The culture of many peoples gives us the insight of the traditions of tattoo art or dye painting on bodies that has remained up to present days.
For me those ancient tattoos became revelation because tattoos may have become the prototype of many jewellery. Different parts of the body for tattoo application had different meaning. For example, the main symbol of tribe usually was applied to shoulder - in this way similar symbols were applied to the shoulders of Pazyryk people. It was considered to be something like coat of arms, citizenship and passport. I have noticed that in ancient times the bracelets on forearms were very popular. It was called bajuband in India and even now it is considered to be one of the mandatory ornaments for a bride. The example of anatomic meaning of tattoos is revealed in the connection of the thumb with marital symbols. However it is not the topic of our current conversation, let’s come back to the tattoos and ornaments of Altay princess.
The mummy has been found during the excavations of burial mound in the south of Altay, on the Ukok highland in the year of 1993 by archeologist N. Polosmak. I think there is some kind of mysticism that it has been found particularly by female archeologist. Seems like the treasures know when and how to reveal… The mummy belonged to the 25-year old woman of rather big height (more than 165cm), very close to European type. There has also been found the remainings of 6 sacrificial horses. This shows high status of the woman. The woman was buried with high head-dress (the length of the burial block takes into account the height of woman with head-dress put on), such things as golden jewellery and such valuable things as for example silk shirt (from China and India) or coriander, that was used as perfume.
the reconstruction of the burial, Altay Mountain museum
Also there has been found the remainings of meat of the burial meal, the clothes and the wig of the woman (the mummy was bold and it is not clear whether it has been a burial tradition or tradition as a whole), the items made from leather, fur and wood, as well as grass, that have been used as filling. Also the dyes have been preserved - we know that the citizens of Ukoka preferred red, white and black colours. The ancient culture, to which the burial refers, is known as Pazyryk (V - III centuries b.c.), it is considered to be of Altay Scythian origin. It existed on the territory of Russia (Altay Mountains), Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China.
the Antropological reconstruction - T. Balueva.
The mummy is widely known after different names - it is also called Ochi-bola, Ak-Kadin (White mistress) and so on. It still arouses a lot of interest, it is surrounded with big amount of superstitions, legends, thoughts and political battles, despite of the fact that this is not the only similar finding that refers to Pazyryk culture. But Altay Princess has appeared in a very spectacular way, and not alone, but with live fragment of her own world. However, it hasn’t revealed all the mysteries. She belonged to grand people of Pazyryk society but was evidently somewhat different from many other people of that epoch. We don’t know for sure until now who she has been.
Pazyryk Tattoos
The scientists of Hermitage followed the advice of criminalists and took photos of mummies found in the year of 1949 by archeologist Rudenko by using infrared rays reflection. This allowed to reveal that the tattoos have been the attributes of all Pazyryk mummies. It is known that the tattoos (scarring) were found on the body of Eti, the ice man, who was found three years before the princess - in the year of 1991 in Alps. The age of Eti mummy is more than 5 thousand years. It can be that this circumstance has played its role in the evaluation of Pazyryk tattoos.
Among the ornaments found on Hermitage mummies there are predator, hoofed and real animals who inhabited Altay (tigers, moufflons, Alpine Ibexes, horses, argali,roes) as well as unknown in the area (Asiatic wild ass). Among different ornaments there have also been fantastical creatures - hoofed with bird head, predators with wings and many birds. It is now proved that the tattoos were weared by all adult Pazyryks, despite of sex and social status.
So, here are the three most known Pazyryk tattoos.
The tattoos on the bodies of Pazyryk mummies
- the second Pazyryk burial
- the tomb Ak-Alaha-3, The burial mound 1
- the tomb Verh-Kaldzin II, the burial mound 3
The tattoos have been copied by Shumakova, and their graphical reconstruction belong to her as well. The ornaments have been published in the book of Polosmak “The Ukoka horsemen” and other editions. Such works as “Pazyryk tattoos”, “Purple and gold of the centuries”, “Birds in Pazyryk tattoos”, the book of L. Barkova and S. pankova about tattoos and others gave me the most of the information about tattoos of Altay princess and Pazyryk.
The first mummy of the man with tattoo has been found in the year of 1948 by Rudenko in the Second Pazyryk burial - the male of mongol type approximately of age of 60, who in literature is usually called the Chief. His arms, the upper part of the back and calf were covered by tattoos. The mummy is preserved in State Hermitage. There have been found other mummies and frozen burials, however in the end of 50s, after the war, it has not been such a hype in the world, as the Altay princess finding aroused.
The best visible tattoo on the chiefs’ body is situated in the right part of the body. On the right arm from shoulder to forearm there are depicted six fantastic creatures with thrown up back legs and long branchy horns. On the right leg from the knee to the hip there is a big fish. There is a tiger with spirally twisted tail on the chest. On the left arm there are two deers and jumping moufflon. The images are done in the peculiar artificial manner, in so-called Scythian-siberian “animal” style. They depict the images of particular animals and the scenes of attacks of predators to hoofed animals (“the tearing scenes”).
The man also had several dots along his spine and it might mean their medical role - to heal by applying the magical signs to the skin. These signs that were applied by tattoo to the back and calves of the man can be understood as the points of reflex therapy.
The fantastic creature - the part of the tattoo. The second Pazyryk burial mound. Rudenko “The treasures of Pazyryk burial mounds”.
The most distinctive symbol among Pazyryk people is the deer with twisted body, with the beak of gryphon and long cat tail in the end of which gryphon head is depicted. The ends of huge stylized horns are also ornamented with bird heads with beak of gryphon. There are also many ornaments depicting winged cat predators. The tattoo on the skin of mummy is represented in Hermitage.
The tattoo of the right hand of the Chief. Mountain Altay, Pazyryk common, the valley of the Big Ulagan river. The second Pazyryk burial ground (the excavations of Rukenko).
Altay princess
The Altay princess became the second found mummy with tattoo (on other, earlier Hermitage mummies the tattoos haven’t been found to that time). The burial mound 1, the tomb Ak-Alah-3 (Ukok highland, Altay). The tattoos have been applied to both arms from the shoulders to the palms of the hands. The images were of blue color and were very distinctive on the white skin. They have been preserved only on the left arm and almost totally destroyed on the right arm. The images have been applied to some fingers on both arms. The archeologists have seen the tattoos when opening the wooden coffin, then the skin of mummy began to dim and the tattoos disappeared. Later they have been restored in the laboratory. When other Pazyryk mummies have been found the tattoos haven’t been noticeable there.
What interests us the most is the fact that the main symbol of the Chief’s tattoo and Altay princess are rather similar. It depicts the deer with predatory beak, tail, horns, the tips of which have the sight of gryphons with beaks.
Male mummy with tattoo from burial mound 3 of the tomb Verh-Kalgin-2
The third tattooed body has been found in the burial mound 3 of the tomb Verh-Kalgin-2 (V. Molodin, 1993). On the left shoulder of the man there has been depicted the fantastical hoofed creature that was depicted as if it was thrown over the shoulder - with the body of deer, the beak of gryphon and the heads of vulture on the horn and back. The symbolic is the same, however done a little different. A thought occurred - isn’t it the reason of twisting the bodies of animals in symbols - maybe this is the evidence of rethinking of the animal via folded, thrown over the shoulder skin?
The similarity of the tattoos tells us that those people belonged to the same society, or tribe, The symbols that were applied to the body during the painful procedure made the person close to mystical mysteries of his society as well as equal member of his society. The first tattoo, evidently, was made during the initiation process and then as the life went on, other tattoos have been applied, that were connected with different situations and events in life (similar to print of the marital status into passport, birth of the children and so on).
The tattoos of the Altay Princess
The reconstruction drawing of the appearance of Altay princess and the pictures of her tattoos.
On the left shoulder of the woman, just below the main symbol, in the same twisted position there is a moufflon with head drawn backwards. Just at his feet there is the closed mouth of dotted panther. Under the panther there is a fantastical creature whose head, unfortunately, hasn’t been preserved. He has sharp-closed paws, long striped tail of the tiger, the body of the lying dear with gryphon head growing from the back. On the wrist the head of deer is very good visible. It has branchy horns. On the second phalange of the thumb of the right hand of the woman there is a hoofed animal with twisted body. The images on the middle and ring finger are rather small and barely distinctive.
The tattoo on the arms of the women is mostly the same according to style and application method to the tattoos of the Chief from the second burial mound. There are the same animal images, the similarity in the composition of the images on the arms.
The tattoos haven’t been applied to hide them under the clothes
Despite rather harsh climate, the tattoos, as N. Polosmak is noting in the book, were applied not to hide them under the clothes afterwards. The male tattoos could be demonstrated during the battles, including the shaman battles versus the evil spirits. During some important events the warriors threw away the coat from their shoulders (it was held by the belt only), and showed their tattooed bard chest, women drew the tattooed arms upwards.
Pazyryk tattoos are known not only because of their stylistic similarity. There is a tradition of the application of images of certain animals to the certain parts of human body. For example, in the upper part of the shoulder both, the chief and the princess, had the depiction of fantastical hoofed creatures, alongside with moufflons and cat-predators.
The shoulders are the most notable and convenient places for tattoo application and usually the main symbols are depicted there. On the shoulders of all three mummies there have been the figures of the same fantastical creature. The tattoo had very important meaning not only during the life of the man, but after his death. This means that the fantastical creature depicted on the skin of all three known tattooed Pazyryk people (the deer with gryphon beak) could be the helper in transferring the person to another world.
All the tattoos are united by the repeatable elements of the picture - the text (symbol system) was applied to human body, not the ornament. For civilizations who haven’t had their own written language it was usual to use symbols multiple times. This means that the tattoo is a sacral letter that transfers important information of the mythological character. The same symbols are repeated on the clothing, kitchenware and arms. This way the appearance of the person was transformed to the depictive symbol of the tribal knowledge. The tattoo not only meant that the person belonged to a certain society (coat of arms), but made sure to keep the knowledge and memory of traditions, beliefs and moral and ethical principles that were traditional for that group of people.
There is an image of fantastic creature on the thumb of Altay Princess.
There is a human soul in the thumb
Usually Pazyryk women had the image of bird on the thumb. On the opposite, the Altay princess had the fantastical creature. Probably there is some kind of inner understanding here.
In Altay folklore the thumb is known to possess the human soul and this finger itself is known as the quintessence of live. The Altay tales tell us that the thumbs of hero contain his life or soul there. Only by cutting those fingers off the enemies can make the hero finally die. The same tradition is seen in the mythological anatomy of the Turkish people. The functions of the thumb make the person different from the animal world - this is inevitable to be able to grab things, use different devices, burn the fire. In Altay tale “Maaday-Kara” the thumb becomes the difference between humans and animals. On the opposite, the absence of thumb speaks of chtonian nature of different characters of Turkish - Mongol mythology. For many ancient people the thumb was known as the phallic symbol, as well as the symbol of might. The images on the thumbs of Pazyryk people (as well as on fingers in general) had one of the primary meanings. The images of birds on thumbs were seen not only among women, but also among men. Because of the fact that sacral was considered the same as phallic (reative divinity), the name of bird in many languages is similar to giving birth or reproductive organs. The picture of the bird on the thumb speaks about meaning, connected with the propagation.
Men usually had such tattoo design as rooster on their thumb - the symbol of male potency among many cultures. Heath-hen is known to be the symbol of the bride. Many kinds of birds in tattoos are depicted during the mating call process, including wood grouse and black-cock. On the other hand the “third soul” is usually depicted as the heath-hen. It comes to a man only during sleep, that’s why it is called “the soul of the sleep” and the “bird of the sleep”. Thus the birds on the fingers of Pazyryk people could be the depiction of the soul. It might as well be that the images of birds were applied to fingers when people reached the marrying age or after the marriage.
Sacred grim
The tattoos have been applied by piercing method with using of grim as a dying substance. The presence of potassium, which as been rather usual for product of combustion of the vegetable origin is confirmed by the laboratory research. The grim had protective meaning. When the tattoos were applied in Siberia or Far East regions in the past were used the grim and coal, mixed with fat, urine or the plant juice.
It seems like a grim from pothole was used. Rudenko wrote about tattooing process that “the image is created by making dots with needle, then the grim of the pothole is taken from the outer part and is wormed into the pierced parts of the body. The grim of the pothole was in the traditional culture known as the magical substance that is saving person from evil forces and making him invisible. for example, if in the evening a person had to move from one tent to another with a child, the grim was used over his face. The Altay people applied grim on the tip of the nose of any guest. Maybe the tattoo application with worming out the grim was the act of initiation to certain flame, house or tribe.
The female tattoo of the Pazaryk people was different by using more small and chiselled pictures. There are less of totally black parts in such tattoo than in a male one. Such black parts have been made to make the image more vivid and was mostly likely made with the bunch of needles brought together, that made the work of tattoo artist more quick and easier.
The tattooing - sacral ritual
The creation of the permanent images on body is the sacral deed, a well-developed ritual, after which the man was virtually transformed. Tattoo artists, highly likely, were very valued in Pazyryk society and belong to the cult servants, to the category of people who have peculiar abilities. In many societies the tattoos have been applied by women. The skin with artificially applied symbols that became inseparable from it, can be the evidence of the consanguinity of people who applied the same tattoo designs.
In many archaic societies tattoos had deep meaning and usually was connected with initiation process for boys and girls. This way on Samoa the boy couldn’t marry until he got tattooed. He was also despised and considered a poor man and the person of humble origin who cannot raise his voice. Tattooing and scarification are known to be the outer signs of death and resurrection, through which the person came in the ancient societies to get the access to something sacral.
There is also evidence of people who lived close to Pazyryks that they made tattoos as well. Among archeological findings in Sinzan district the European mummies were seen with tattoos on the upper parts of the arms, on the palms, on the fingers and the back, usually in the form of simple vegetative and geometrical ornaments. In the Subashi-3 tomb there has been found the mummified head of a man with preserved ornament on the face^ in the center of the forehead there have been two vertical lines, and two horizontal lines on the cheeks (similar to hindi people).
The garnish of Altay Princess
In the head-dress there is also repeated the symbolic of the tattoos of Altay Princess. The garnish is made of wood and wrapped in the golden foil as well as all other golden jewellery of Pazyryk people. The high head-dress, evidently, was the main part of the woman appearance.
The black substance that formed the wig is covered with the horse hair. The wig is beautified with the wooden parts, that are covered with golden foil. On the wig there is a high head-dress (61cm) - the installation made of felt in the form of long petal, covered with black cloth. There are 15 wooden bird figures, embroidered on it, that are also covered with golden foil. Each boasts inserted wings, paws and tails made of leather. On the wig, just like a badge, was situated the figure of the lying deer with double body, covered in golden foil. Another beautifying measure is the cover made from red wool, that is covering the hair on the head with bronze pin with wooden edge in the form of deer standing on the sphere (all in golden foil).
Among the garnish of the Altay princess there is the most typical one for all Scythian region - the golden torque.
The garnish is made of wood and are covered with thin golden foil that holds form rather bad. However there are some wooden parts that allow to reconstruct the form of torque and other garnish rather precisely. The gold was dug up in Altay from very ancient times. For Pazyryk people, evidently, the gold was especially important after death and had symbolic meaning.
Torques, eventually, played the roles of amulets. On the wooden torque of Altay princess there are 8 figures of winged panthers. The torque was rather spectacular and there was only one time when similar construction was found in Pazyryk burial moulds. There are a lot of torques with ring made of bronze and silver. In this case they were surely made as burial ones and were not worn during the life. Evidently, the torque was the mandatory element of the burial process, however it doesn’t mean that it was not worn during live. Torques have been found in all burials.
Marble pendant with the brush from the horse crest.
There have not been any rings or bracelets among pazyryk people, but pendants and necklaces are common, especially in rich burials. They have also been found in the tomb of Altay Princess. Among Turkish people the pendants were the attributes of supreme patron of children and pregnant women. Pazyryk people also used different applications made of leather, elm and felt, usually depicting animals, birds and fish.
The cosmetic selection of the Princess included the brush made of black horse hair with thin wooden stem inside, that was bound by using the leather cord, beautified with cylindrical marble pendants, as well as handful of powder of blue-green color. There have been also remains of destructed thin stem made of flat metallic rings filled with the same blue-green powder (the same as our high-lighter for eyes).
The analysis has shown that it was vivianite (the blue iron ore). Closer to the modern times this powder was used to get the green dye. In Mountain Altay it is known to be where golden sands are. It may be that the powder had some sacral meaning. The pencil with vivianite might be used to dye the face for the people who had peculiar functions or peculiar gifts. Among Pazyryk people the dying of face and body is not proved mainly because there have not been found any mummified face anywhere. However the people who lived close to Pazyryks, such tradition is noted, for example the drawing of the two spiralled images. There is a faint association with blue-green turquoise and many Sumerian green cosmetic powders that have been found in Uhr and other Sumer cities.
In the ears of the Altay princess there have been simple golden earrings (on the photo to the right), however in some tombs there are earrings made as stylized gryphons (on the photo to the left). Both males and females wore earrings.
In the wrinkle of the skirt there have been found 5 small bronze pendants. There was an application from golden foil that covered the fur facecloth that covered all the contents of the coffin, the fur to the outside.
In the wooden frame of the mirror there was a bronze sheet. The mirror lied near the left hip of the woman in the case of white and red felt. At the hand of the mirror there was the abundance of different beads, among which one tooth of man was found. Evidently the beads were embroidered in the case that contained the mirror.
On the small fingers of the woman there have been woolen cords. This custom is preserved among echochins - one of the groups of western Mongolia. One end of black and white cord was wrapped around the finger on the right hand, and the other to the finger on the left hand of one of relatives. After that the cord was cut, for the soul of the dead not to stay with living. This custom was based on the symbolic meaning of the cord as the cord of life. The cord that was drawn upwards connected people to the sky spheres and symbolized life. The tearing of the cord meant death.