Paper short abstract:

An ancient female mummy in the Altai Republic has become embroiled in a multi-faceted dispute to her ownership and custodianship that has pitted archaeologists against indigenous views of heritage and the rights of the dead. Her body is not only important to archaeological studies but plays an important part in the renegotiation of Altaian people’s identity in post-Soviet times.

Paper long abstract:

In 1993 the excavations of a frozen burial in the Altai Republic (southern Siberia, Russian Federation) had uncovered a female mummy with animal tattoos dating around 274 BCE. News of her discovery was disseminated quickly to the wider public and she became known as the 'ice princess' or 'ice maiden' of the Altai. Subsequently, her body has become embroiled in a multi-faceted dispute to her ownership and custodianship that has pitted archaeologists against indigenous views of heritage and the rights of the dead. As an object of study the mummy is important to archaeologists for she belongs to the Pazyryk culture that flourished within the region around 500-200 BCE. Archaeologists, however, had transformed the mummy into a curio that has been put on display in a Russian museum and lies stripped naked to flaunt its exotic tattoos. In opposition to this there is a broad-based movement among the Altaians that aims to bring her back to her homeland to be reburied. Moreover, the conflict of values over the ice maiden is embedded in the greater socio-political struggles of the Altaians against Russian dominance. Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, the Altaians, like many other minorities, are now asserting a new ethno-nationalism that actively reappropriates elements of the past. Thus, the archaeological discovery of the ice maiden's body is not only important to academic studies but plays an important part in the renegotiation of Altaian identity in post-Soviet times.