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Ice Mummies—Siberian Ice Maiden
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Program Overview
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NOVA follows archeologist Natalya Polosmok as she journeys to the Altay Mountains in southern Siberia to search for traces of
an ancient people known as the Pazyryk.
Polosmok and her team discover and unearth a wooden tomb
surrounded by the frozen remains of six horses, uncovering a 2,400-year-old woman dubbed the Siberian Ice Maiden.
The Ice Maiden is buried alone, lying as if asleep, in a wood
coffin with a headdress and a mirror. An afterlife meal, a yak horn vessel and a wooden table are also found outside the coffin. Archeologists record the Ice Maiden's height, and discover a
hole in her skull and peat packed in her body.
They use radiocarbon dating, tree-ring chronology and biological testing to determine the age of the remains and time of death.
The body is excavated
and taken to Moscow for
preservation and facial
reconstruction. Another
mummy, and other
skeletons, are discovered
elsewhere.
The program concludes by
raising the question of who has
rights to the ancient graves.
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