Women’s History Month and The Unexpected Thread Connecting Me to an Ancient Mummy

As a fiber artist, what I do has long, deep roots in human civilization. For most of that time, as a craft, artform, skill, and trade, it has fallen under what has been considered “women’s work”. Unlike skills that women were once forbade to learn, such as painting and writing, the fiber arts in its various forms were not only encouraged but expected. Ironically, despite the intention to keep women’s sphere of influence relegated to hearth and home, the importance of fiber related skills such as spinning, weaving, knitting, and felting, throughout time and in every culture, cannot be overstated. Therefore, I thought that women’s history month was the perfect time to spin a yarn about the discovery of an ancient princess, what she taught us and how a coincidental thread connecting us looped back around to tie itself up like the bow on a lovely, serendipitous gift.

Four years ago, while scrolling social media, I came across an article about an important archeological discovery: In 1993, Dr. Natalia Polosmak and her team discovered a tomb that was the elaborate burial of a high status Pazyryk woman who has since come to be called the Ice Maiden or the Princess of Ukok. What was so astonishing was just how well preserved her carefully embalmed body was. She was in such good condition, under those layers of ice, that her elaborate, indigo tattoos were still clear and visible.

Dr. Polosmak and the burial chamber

I was so fascinated by both the story and the imagery that I messaged the woman who posted it (who also happened to be the talented tattoo artist who did my rabbit tattoo). A few days later she wrote back to say that a handful of her clients had reached out about the article and the tattoo itself, so she decided to offer to tattoo the design for those of us who had contacted her. She was doing it as a fundraiser for a friend of hers who had just undergone a double mastectomy, as a way to relieve some financial stress during her recovery. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get this tattoo and to support an artist who was using her talent to help out a friend. I should note that the offer of this tattoo design seemed especially poignant as researchers believe that the Ice Maiden likely died from breast cancer or that it contributed to her early demise. She was thought to be around 25 years of age.

The Ice Maiden tattoo is described as the body of a deer with the head of a gryphon and flowers in its “capricorn” antlers

The crux of the article I read at the time was about the tattoos with some information about the horses and men who were buried with her that served as clues to her high status. Fast forward four years: me, a felt maker fascinated by the history of my craft, with my Ice Maiden tattoo on my leg. I am listening to an audio book called A Short History of the World According to Sheep by Sally Courtland. In chapter 2 titled: Wool’s Scaly Secret, the author starts telling a familiar tale about a 2,400-year-old woman frozen in time. I quickly recognized that she was talking about the Ice Maiden. Now, I was aware that the area in which she was found, the Altai Region, a vast area where Kazakhstan, China, Russia, and Mongolia meet, is well known for its long history of felt making. But what I didn’t know was that the discovery of the Ice Maiden revealed so much more than these amazing ancient tattoos. It was, in fact, one of the most important and revealing archeological discoveries in terms of helping us to understand just how big of a role wool played to these nomadic tribes. She, herself was buried in a woolen skirt and high stocking-like felt boots, but her headpiece was perhaps the most impressive. Approximately 3 feet tall, it was felted, shaped like a spike and adorned with elaborate birds that were covered in gold foil. It took up nearly one third of the coffin.

Recreation of the headpiece

There is more to know about the Ice Maiden, the Scythians use of wool for everything from yurts to carpets to ornate headdresses, not to mention the way women helped to mold civilization through the fiber arts but those might have to be future posts. I already loved my tattoo but learning about this other aspect to the discovery of it’s original bearer made it even more meaningful. When I look at it I am still reminded that it came from an artist bringing together her community to help another woman, and of a symbol from an ancient time worn by another strong woman whose discovery shed light on a the importance on the area of the arts that I love so much. But now it also serves as a reminder that I am a fiber artist in a long line of women fiber artists. Just one of the threads making up this tapestry that connects us through time.

My tattoo

Sources:

Coulthard, Sally. (2020). A Short History of the World According to Sheep. W.F. Howes Ltd

https://scfh.ru/en/news/the-altai-princess-revealed-her-face/

https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/meet-the-2500-year-old-siberian-ice-maiden-and-her-tattoos

https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0b5vtbj/the-mystery-of-siberia-s-2-500-year-old-ice-maiden-

Entering A New Era

Last week, our youngest daughter graduated from high school. Having school aged children is something we’ve been doing for a long time. It seems like I was barely done being “school age” myself when I had my first child. So, I find myself on the precipice of a brand new stage of life. And honestly, I’m feeling pretty good about it.

Of course it is bittersweet but I’m excited to for the shift that happens in the relationship with your kids when they become adults and frankly, mine are pretty cool adults. I am also looking forward to having less schedules to manage and more of my own time to fill.

Initially, I felt a pang of guilt for feeling this way, like the expectation is that I am supposed to just be sad and not know what to do with myself. But the reality is, I’m relieved that, although there might be the occasional wistfulness for the days when my kids were little, I am mostly just excited for not only their futures but my own! I’m ready to lean more fully into this version of myself, having more time and energy to explore my creativity and where this artistic journey is going to take me.

Then vs Now-how could I be sad when they look so happy?

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Well, this isn’t a parenting blog so I’m going to leave it at that. May was full of lots of “lasts” and milestones. Hopefully summer will bring a little relaxation for all of us and more time to get back into the studio.

Finding Inspiration in a Snowy Desert

This January I was lucky enough to be invited by a dear friend to go to Sedona, Arizona on for a long weekend. It had been a good twenty five years since I’ve been to Arizona (and never to Sedona), which I had heard so much about. Saying yes to opportunities and adventures when I can is something I’m working on for 2023, so I jumped at the chance, excited for my first trip out west in ages.

Our first morning, we woke up to several inches of snow! It was January and, being from Ohio, I didn’t find this that surprising but apparently it was more snow than the locals are used to getting.

The view from the back porch of our vacation rental

Were my thoughts of a warm desert get away dashed? A little, but we didn’t let that stop us and I was completely taken with the landscape we found. The juxtaposition of the white snow covering the red rocks and cactus gave the place an almost alien appearance.

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Juniper Trees Covered in Snow

This hike took us around one of the more popular vortexes that Sedona is known for. And the look of this spot definitely made me feel like I could walk through it and end up somewhere else.

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Snow doesn’t last long in Sedona and the next day brought a brighter sky and slightly warmer temperatures. So we did more adventuring and I soaked up as much sunshine as I could before heading back to Ohio.

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Inspired by the beauty and wonder that is Sedona, I’ve started a small collection of wall hangings to be finished some time this spring. I was especially drawn to the dessert snow landscapes. I hope you’ll come back to the website or follow me on social media to see them when they are complete!

The beginning stages of a felted wall hanging inspired by my trip to Sedona.

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I’d like to make a quick recommendation: if you go to Sedona and find yourself with some time to kill in Phoenix, go check out The Heard Museum. It’s full of incredible American Indian art.

With kids getting older and the world opening back up, I’m excited to visit more places and have more adventures that fill me up, inspire my work and grow me as a human being. I’m grateful for every opportunity like this one that I have had and will have in the future. I won’t ever take them for granted again. I hope you’ll join me as I share bits of inspiration be it from travel or my own backyard, as well as informative posts about the history and process of felting, and what it’s like to build your own fiber studio and suggestions for carving out your own creative space. Thanks for reading!