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

Written By Megan Henderson

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

Megan Henderson

Fiber Artist and educator

Maker of original wet felted and needle felted fine art

https://www.meganhenderson.net
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Entering A New Era