Princess of Altai (Ukoka). Altai princess ochy-bala or princess ukok

01.05.2019

The legendary mummy was discovered almost 30 years ago on the Ukok high plateau on the border with Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan. There is a version that the woman buried with special honors was a shaman who sacrificed herself to save the world from dark forces.

The place where the burial of Princess Ukok was discovered is called Death Valley. According to legend, old people, when they felt death approaching, went there to die. According to one of the expedition members, in 1993, when they began to open the mound with the mummy, thunder erupted and an earthquake began. The scientists were seriously frightened, some even wanted to retreat, but they were not allowed. Indigenous people believe that at that moment the spirit of the ancestor of the Altai people, Ak Kadyn or the White Lady, awakened. And indeed, soon after the opening of the mound, disasters hit Altai that had never happened before - earthquakes, floods, hail the size of a hen's egg. A wave of suicides swept across the republic, and local residents associated this with the revenge of the awakened princess.

The mysterious history of the excavations was told by the Altai writer, researcher of shamanic culture Andrei Korobeishchikov. According to him, when they opened the sarcophagus and were preparing to transport the mummy, the Gazik broke down. Another was called, but he too could not take the princess away from her grave due to a breakdown. It was possible to pick up the princess from the Ukok plateau on the third attempt by helicopter, but during the flight one engine failed. The helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing. It was a miracle that no one was hurt then. This story was confirmed by one of the pilots.

When the mummy was taken to Novosibirsk for research, Altai shamans warned that the punishment of Ak-Kadyn (White Lady) would overtake everyone related to the excavation of the burial ground. After this, some died for unexplained reasons, others found themselves childless, and still others were overtaken by illness.

“KP” managed to find a woman who participated in the excavations with her husband, and a few years later he died. Alexander Erokhin spent only one day at the mound, but then he could not remember how he got to the high-mountain plateau and what he did there.

Death Valley

That day, the UAZ, in which Erokhin and his wife climbed to the plateau, seemed to be blocked by something. The car stopped working twice due to breakdowns. Both bridges failed. Then the group even had to ask the border guards for help.

We did not intend to participate in this expedition. We had our own program, according to which we had to move deep into the mountains, where other mounds and petroglyphs were located,” said Nadezhda Erokhina. - When we arrived at the plateau, it was so dark! It seemed as if the sky was touching the earth. It was raining and very cold.

The Erokhins spent only one day at the excavations. Alexander made sketches of the discovered artifacts. His wife Nadezhda was in charge of the field kitchen.

All the archaeologists knew each other, we made a stop on the Ukok plateau. The guys had already excavated the mound with the princess and were heating the cauldrons to melt the ice. In fact, we accidentally witnessed the excavation of the famous princess of Ukok. Sasha wanted to help, his task was to sketch the artifacts found, recalls Nadezhda Erokhina.

Alexander spent the whole evening at the mound, but strangely, the eventful day seemed to be erased from his memory.

He could never remember, even looking at his own notes, how we arrived at the mound, and what he did during the excavations. The memory seemed to be blocked,” Nadezhda recalls.

After this expedition, Alexander began to get sick often. The family even turned to a healer, who claimed that the cause of the disease was retribution for the disturbed peace of the dead. Four years later, Alexander Erokhin, who did not even have bad habits, went to bed as usual and... did not wake up. Doctors could not really explain the cause of death.

Shortly before Alexander’s death, old friends came to the Erokhins, who had traveled with them more than once around Altai, were together on the Ukok plateau during excavations, but did not approach the mound with the princess.

I woke up at night from someone's gaze. She raised her head and was stupefied with horror - in the corner of the room, near the sofa, where Sasha Erokhin often slept, a huge bird woman was sitting. It looked like it was about to take off, but then it disappeared. Without a doubt, this was a sign. “We soon learned that Sasha had died,” said Albina Grigorievna, a friend of the family.

Revenge of the Dead

The famous Russian archaeologist Vladimir K. (family friends asked not to give the scientist’s last name - author’s note), who worked with Erokhin at the burial, several years after the expedition, doctors discovered a tumor.

After the excavations, a lump appeared on his head; he never paid attention to it. But then, years later, this lump turned out to be a malignant tumor - it was impossible to operate. The archaeologist died in 2011, said Nadezhda Erokhina.

According to his friends, the famous Siberian archaeologist has repeatedly said that he regrets his participation in the excavations. He also advocated returning the princess to Altai, as demanded by local residents who believed that the misfortunes that befell their region were connected with the disturbed peace of the mummy.

He said that scientists already have all the necessary information to study, so there is no reason that would prevent them from returning the lady to her homeland, said historian and chairman of the organizing committee for the burial of the mummy Akai Kine.

Currently, part of the expedition is alive, but as acquaintances of archaeologists assure, for many in life after those excavations everything went wrong. True, archaeologists themselves do not believe in the mummy’s revenge.

The punishment of spirits can be reflected later, up to the seventh generation. This can result in failure, illness and childlessness. As far as I know, some excavation participants remained childless,” says shaman Akai Kine.

Seven sisters

In Altai they believe that the world of people was protected by seven sisters who voluntarily sacrificed themselves. As Andrei Korobeyshchikov, a researcher of shamanic culture and writer, said, there was a whole caste of “border guards” who protected the world from hostile spirits.

According to the writer, evil forces have their own adherents on earth who are trying to destroy the protective network. And archaeologists, perhaps without knowing it, are instruments in the hands of evil. By the way, after the scandal with the princess, excavations were prohibited on the Ukok plateau, but now scientists are close to starting their research again.

Who knows how the excavations will end if scientists find the remaining guardians of this world buried on the Ukok plateau. According to one version, if this happens, the gates to the underworld will be open. According to mystics, this could lead to unprecedented cataclysms and new wars on a global scale.

By the way

Princess Prophecy

As Altai shamans claim, the discovery of the mummy and the subsequent cataclysms were predicted long before the excavations. According to them, the prophecy was made by a girl from a village near the Ukok plateau. The girl said that scientists would disturb the peace of the ancestress of the Altai people. For this she will curse the entire Altai land.

KP hint

This is a mummy that archaeologists found in a mound on the Ukok plateau under a thick layer of ice. According to researchers, the remains belonged to a woman who was about 25 years old. She died about 2.5 thousand years ago from breast cancer.

According to scientists, the woman was a shaman. Four tattoos were made on the mummy's arm, including one in the form of a deer with a griffin's beak and the horns of a capricorn. Among the ancient Indo-Europeans, the ibex deer symbolized the guide of the deceased to the “other” world.

The mummy was dressed in a silk shirt, a woolen skirt, felt stocking boots and a fur coat. A horsehair wig about 90 cm high was worn on her head. Under the princess’s burial there was a wooden sarcophagus, the remains of six horses and household utensils.

The Altaians nicknamed the found mummy the Princess of Ukok and the “White Lady.”

Where can you see her?

Now Princess Ukok is in Gorno-Altaisk in the National Museum named after A.V. Anokhin. A special hall was built for the mummy, where the burial was reconstructed. The princess herself is in a sarcophagus similar to the one in which she was found - according to shamans, this was demanded by the princess herself, who appeared in a dream to the residents and cried that people were looking at her naked body. After this, the princess’s body was no longer shown in the museum. But then it was decided to open the mummy several times a month.

Recently, Altai has been hit by a wave of natural disasters: earthquakes, floods of unprecedented destructive power, hail the size of a good chicken egg that broke glass in the houses of Gorno-Altai residents, abnormal downpours that continue like a wall for a week in a row...

Some people see in all this the usual manifestations of Mother Nature, while others blame Novosibirsk archaeologists, who in 1993, on the Ak-Alakha-3 mound of the Ukok plateau, discovered the burial of a 25-year-old woman lying in a newborn position in an ice “lens” .

The shamans of the Altai Mountains hastened to call her the legendary ancestor of the Altai people, Princess Kadyn, or Ochy-Bala, and the Altai residents, at the instigation of the media, dubbed her Princess Ukok. But scientists insist: you should not call the mysterious stranger a princess, she is an ordinary representative of the middle class of Pazyryk society. We tried, with the help of Novosibirsk and Biysk archaeologists, to shed light on this mysterious and enigmatic story...

Excavations of the Princess of Ukok

So, in 1993, an expedition of archaeologists from the Novosibirsk Institute of Archeology and Ethnography, led by Doctor of Science Natalya Polosmak, landed on the Ukok plateau - scientists examined the Ak-Alakha-Z mound, which had long been plundered and was in a dilapidated state.

First we came across a ruined Iron Age burial, delved further - and here it was, a world-class sensation! Under “ruin” is an older burial, preserved in its original form, but filled with ice from the inside.

For several days, scientists melted the ice, and when the ice shackles fell off, six horses in full combat gear and a wooden block, in which, bent to the stomach, appeared long legs, lay the mummy of a young woman in a Chinese silk shirt, a woolen skirt, a fur coat and felt stockings. A shaved head, a horsehair wig, arms and shoulders dotted with tattoos - on the left shoulder there is a phantasmagoric deer with a griffin's beak and the horns of a capricorn.

Scientists immediately made their initial “diagnosis”: apparently, the burial belongs to the Scythian Pazyryk culture, which was widespread in Altai two and a half thousand years ago. The girl is not at all of a noble family, but not a commoner either, perhaps a keeper of sacred knowledge who sacrificed herself. The mummy was taken to the laboratory of the Novosibirsk Institute of Archeology and Ethnography for detailed study. Such a find would allow scientists to “know the future by reading the past.”

Some media mysteriously wrote that during the transportation of the mummy, the turbines of the helicopter in which Natalia Polosmak’s team was located failed - in a word, the mystical quest of Princess Ukok began safely.

The Legend of Princess Ukok

Altai shamans also made an official statement: archaeologists have disturbed the ancient burial place of the ancestor of the Altai people, Princess Kadyn (Ochy-Bala), and if scientists do not return the mummy to its place, there will be natural disasters. By the way, the end of the world is quite possible, which, according to their predictions, should happen this year.

According to legend, the guardian of peace Ak-Kadyn ( White Mistress) sacrificed herself on purpose in order to sacredly restrain dark forces who are trying to break into our world from the lower strata, and a change in her mystical “place of residence” will have a detrimental effect on universal harmony. Princess Kadyn stood guard over the gates of the underworld and belonged to upper caste guardian priestesses.

In a word, the shamans beat their tambourines, they, in turn, were supported by ufologists and metaphysicians who expressed vague assumptions that Princess Kadyn was a representative of an extraterrestrial civilization.

With the departure of Princess Ukok to Novosibirsk, mystical unrest began among the Altai people, skillfully fueled by the media, shamans, metaphysicians and intelligentsia of the Altai Republic, who hastened to declare the mummy “ours to all.”

Cataclysms and even historical events(for example, the excavation of a mound on Ukok coincided with the date of the government crisis - July 31, 1993) lined up in a single logical chain - the Altai princess is angry, she needs to be returned to her homeland. The official statements of scientists did not help, who, based on a genetic analysis of the mummy, announced that the buried girl belonged to the Caucasian race and had no relation to the Altai people.

“From my point of view, this is shamanism,” says historian, archaeologist and local historian from Biysk Sergei Isupov, who, together with Novosibirsk scientists, was engaged in the “biography” of Princess Ukok.

Princess Ukok is nothing more than a convenient mythology invented by local shamans, which found a response in the hearts of the “golden intelligentsia” of the Altai Mountains. This girl cannot be Princess Kadyn, at least due to her genetic characteristics - she belongs to the European race, to the Scythian era, this is eloquently evidenced by the results of scientific research carried out by Novosibirsk scientists. She cannot be the ancestor of the Altai people. You see, this sensational discovery by Natalya Polosmak’s team was of enormous international significance; it was possible to study this material for a very long time.

“You shouldn’t call her a princess,” academician Vyacheslav Molodin once said. “This is not a princess, she is a representative of the middle stratum of Pazyryk society.” The hype around our find arises when some events occur in Altai: either elections, or earthquakes, or a local budget deficit. Immediately this same “lady” is raised to the shield: all the troubles happen because she is in Novosibirsk, and not in Altai. Even political parties are trying to use this: they say, you elect us, and we will return the princess to Altai. All this is politicking of the lowest kind. At first we were worried about this, but now we are absolutely calm. After studying, the mummy will be returned to Altai. The most interesting thing is that this mummy is far from the first to be dug up in Altai and taken from there. In the 30s and 50s, during excavations of the Pazyryk mounds, several mummies were found, which are kept in the Hermitage. And, thank God, no one is demanding their return. Moreover, these were the burials of the highest layer of Pazyryk society.

The public of the Altai Republic finally achieved its goal - in 2012, Princess Ukoka returned from the laboratories of the Novosibirsk Institute to the Anokhin National Museum in Gorno-Altaisk. It would seem that the confrontation between the scientific world and the Altai people is over: the guardian of peace Kadyn is again on her native land, which means that natural disasters, mass suicides and livestock deaths must end. But…

Burial of Princess Ukok

The terrible flood, which destroyed bridges, dams and flooded hundreds of villages, villages and towns in Altai, again raised mass discontent: Princess Kadyn should not lie in a museum sarcophagus, she should be returned to native land- on the Ukok plateau. The ancient people were wiser than us and understood that the peace of the priestesses guarding the gates of the underworld should not be disturbed.

Now in the Altai Republic there is a gathering of signatures in support of this decision. According to regional media, the chairman of the organizing committee, Akai Kine, is even going to turn to Novosibirsk archaeologists for help in burying Princess Kadyn on the plateau.

“Well, it’s their decision,” says Sergei Yuryevich. “They sought to ensure that the mummy was returned to the Altai Mountains - the scientists complied and curtailed all their work, which in the future could become a real world discovery in the field of “who are we and where do we come from?” Now they want to bury her... I will express my subjective opinion: we are pandering to “average” people endowed with completely philistine thinking. You know, we raised huge layers of Altai mythology and approached this issue with scientific pedantry - we did not find any connection between the girl of the Scythian era found in the mound and the princess of Ochy-Bala.

...Princess Ukoka continues to excite the minds of scientists, esotericists, shamans, and simply curious people greedy for such mystical food for the mind. Will the White Lady calm down, who, according to the legend of the Altai shamans, promised not to come a second time, but to “sail” to her sacred home?

The secret of the Altai princess.

For more than 2 decades, debates about the so-called have not subsided. "Altai princess" and her influence on the fate of Altai.
In this post, I tried to collect the most common versions, scientific and pseudo-scientific hypotheses, trying to reveal the secret of this sensational discovery of the late 20th century.

Altai has more than once delighted archaeologists with its amazing historical artifacts, because burials are perfectly preserved in permafrost. The most famous find was the burial of a young woman, who, with the light hand of scientists and journalists, was dubbed the Altai Princess or “Princess of Ukok”

The story of the Altai princess began in the summer of 1993. It was then that on the Ukok plateau, archaeologist Natalya Polosmak drew attention to an unremarkable, half-dismantled mound. Her husband and teacher, academician Vyacheslav Molodin, initially did not approve of his wife’s choice: such mounds usually turned out to be plundered a long time ago. But something told Natalya that this time she should insist on her own. After a week of excavation, her team discovered an Early Iron Age burial. When it was cleared, it turned out that this was an “admitted” burial, a later one. And below it is another one. The lower burial appeared to be in an ice lens.
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The unusual find was immediately reported to the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences. Soon a whole team of archaeologists and journalists from Switzerland, Belgium, the USA, Japan, and Germany arrived by helicopter from Novosibirsk. It took several days to open the wooden burial chamber. The ice was melted with hot water from the mugs, then the melted water was scooped out... But when the work was finished, everyone present could not contain their emotions: such discoveries are rare.

Six horses lay in the ice - under saddles, with harnesses. And another wooden deck, nailed shut with bronze nails. Noble people were buried in such logs, carved from larch. When the deck was opened, it contained a perfectly preserved mummy. She was lying on her right side, her legs slightly bent.
Appearance the mummy testified to the peculiar fashion of those times: a horsehair wig was worn on his shaved head, his arms and shoulders were covered with numerous tattoos. In particular, on the left shoulder was depicted a fantastic deer with the beak of a griffin and the horns of a capricorn - a sacred Altai symbol.

Reconstruction of the burial of the “Altai Princess”.

(They say that as soon as the mummy was removed, the previously clear sky suddenly darkened and increasing thunderclaps were heard. Everyone present felt uneasy. First warning?)

Research has shown that the burial dates back to the period of the Pazyryk culture of Altai and was made in the 5th-3rd centuries BC.
The discovery on the Ukok plateau immediately became a world sensation. The archaeologists, along with their “prey,” were hastily evacuated. Between Barnaul and Novosibirsk, the helicopter in which Natalya was flying with the mummy made an emergency landing - one of the engines stalled. (Second warning?)

Residents of Altai have long tried to resist archaeologists excavating mounds on the Ukok plateau. Mountains of letters rained down on officials and scientists demanding the return of the princess’s mummy to the land of Altai. But scientists were completely indifferent to the opinion of the Altai people. They began to study the find: they determined the approximate age of the mummy - about 2500 years old, began its restoration and carried out a genetic analysis. The results of the latter turned out to be discouraging: there was not a drop of blood of the Mongoloid race in the veins of the Altai princess! And her facial features, which scientists managed to restore, were Caucasian. This gave scientists the right to claim that the found mummy had nothing to do with Altai.

The mummy's clothes, belted with a red belt, were made of the finest silk. In her hands was a larch wand, and her head was adorned with a complex-shaped headdress with golden braids. Of particular interest was the tattoo on the woman’s hands. She depicted the so-called Altai griffin.

Who is she? Local shamans said that the archaeologists did not tell them anything new: they had long known about this burial, sacred to them. The deceased, they said, is their legendary ancestor Ak-Kadyn (translated as the White Lady, her other name is Ochy-Bala). She is considered the guardian of peace and stood guard over the gates of the underworld, preventing the penetration of Evil from the lower worlds. But no one dared to disturb her sacred sleep. Many residents of Altai believe that Kadyn Ochi-Bala was one of the priestesses who voluntarily gave up their lives to protect the Earth on a sacred plane.

Options for reconstructing the appearance of the “Princess of Ukok”.

The ancient Greek historian Herodotus, a contemporary of the mysterious princess, wrote about the Scythian tribes inhabiting the Altai Mountains, who could turn into vultures “guarding gold.” These unknown creatures were distinguished by their tall stature and “unearthly” appearance. Neither you have slanted eyes, nor wide cheekbones, like the Chinese or Altaians. Their “portraits” are again very close to the ancient Chinese descriptions of the “sons of heaven.”

Herodotus writes that the Scythians had their own “kings,” headed by the “foremother,” “the mistress of the Scythians.” In the graves of this period, many images of long-eared griffins were found - mythological creatures guarding gold. By the way, there are especially many of them on the Ukok plateau. But only one of them, and the largest one, was applied to the human body. Thus, some suggest that the princess with the vulture on her shoulder was the same Great Priestess of the Scythians.

The uniqueness of the burial is also in the fact that six red horses, decorated with strange metal objects, were buried along with the woman. According to Chinese mythology, such horses were called “qilin” - heavenly, capable of lifting a person to transcendental heights. They were a cross with a griffin and were associated with the image of the Mother Goddess, who gave birth to the entire human race.

The Scythian woman's attire is very unusual. Clothes made of the finest silk, a material practically never used in these parts, are framed by a thick red belt. Archaeologists believe that such a belt is a sign of a warrior and initiate. And the larch stirring stick found in her hands is an extremely important ritual symbol: even in pre-Buddhist times, such sticks were considered an instrument of the creation of the world and were placed in the hands of the highest divine persons.

In all cultures, be they pagan or monotheistic, there is a strict prohibition: you must not disturb the peace of the dead. Otherwise, their anger will fall not only on those who opened the burial, but also on local residents who failed to defend their shrines. Representatives of technological civilization are skeptical about such statements: And archaeologists even consider them a superstition that interferes with normal scientific work. Although examples proving the wisdom of many folk beliefs, there was plenty... Just remember the curse of the mummy of the Egyptian princess Amen-Ra, which caused the death of anyone who tried to take possession of her. Some argue that it was she who destroyed the Titanic when the mummy was transported to the United States in 1912, where the American archaeologist who bought it was waiting for her.

Altai princess, turned out to be no less vengeful than other mummies. Soon after the opening of the mound, a whole chain of natural disasters struck Altai. The worst of them, the Altai earthquake, occurred in 2003. And since then, the mountains have hardly calmed down: sometimes Altai “shaked” twice a day... Destructive tremors and strong floods made the life of the Altai people a real hell. Entire villages were destroyed, roads were washed away, people were left homeless...

Local shamans began to openly talk about the curse of the Altai princess.

Princess tattoos.

Official authorities dismissed the shamanic prophecies. They invited geologists on television who convincingly, but to no avail, tried to explain to the indignant Altai people that their “native” mountains are a fairly young system, so earthquakes are possible here. This was known long before the ashes of the Altai princess were raised to the surface of the earth. "Siberian Soviet encyclopedia" reports that tremors earth's crust on the territory of Altai were already recorded in 1734, 1803, 1862 and 1885. Seismologists note that in the next century, such phenomena in the Altai mountains are likely to become the norm, and their strength and frequency will gradually increase.

But the Altaians themselves have a different opinion. They drew up an appeal, which was signed by almost five thousand people - from lumberjacks and mechanics to representatives of the administration. This statement by the indigenous Altai people, who have not lost their pagan beliefs and still worship nature and national shrines, was published on the pages of newspapers. People outraged by the inaction of the authorities stated: “All the excavations that have been and are being carried out in Altai cause us irreparable damage... Thus, on the Ukok plateau in the Kosh-Agach region, a burial mound was opened, where a tattooed young woman of noble origin was located. For the inhabitants of Altai, it was a sacred relic - the keeper of the peace and greatness of our people. Now the Altai princess is kept in the Novosibirsk museum. As pagans, we have no doubt that the soul of the Altai princess is rebelling and finally demanding that her ashes be put to rest. The tragic events of recent months are connected with this...”

The Altai people were still partially listened to.
Since September 2012, the mummy has been stored in the new hall of the Anokhin National Museum (Altai Republic, Gorno-Altaisk), specially built for storing the exhibit, in a sarcophagus with equipment for maintaining and controlling special temperature and humidity conditions. A special extension was built for the exhibit.
Scientists are categorically against the burial of the Altai princess. They see no connection between archaeological excavations and natural disasters and insist that the mummy is of great historical value, so its place is in a museum...

It would seem that the most simple solution is the reburial of the Altai princess. Then, if not her anger, then at least the indignation of many thousands of people will subside. However, from a legal point of view, anyone who dares to bury a mummy will commit... a crime! After all, according to the law, persons who caused harm to an object cultural heritage, bear criminal liability. In addition, after returning to the ground, the mummy will inevitably begin to decompose - since until now it was protected by a thick layer of ice, and repeated burial will no longer provide the Altai princess with the necessary microclimate...

And here is the opinion of academician Vyacheslav Molodin, who characterized the situation around the princess this way:

"You shouldn't call her 'princess.' This is not a princess, she is a representative of the middle stratum of Pazyryk society. The hype around our find arises when some events occur in Altai: either elections, or earthquakes, or a local budget deficit. Immediately this same “lady” is raised to the shield: all the troubles happen because she is in Novosibirsk, and not in Altai. Even political parties are trying to use this: they say, you elect us, and we will return the “princess” to Altai. All this is politicking of the lowest kind. At first we were worried about this, but now we are absolutely calm about it. After studying, the mummy will be returned to Altai.
The most interesting thing is that this mummy is far from the first to be dug up in Altai and taken from there. In the thirties and fifties, during excavations of the Pazyryk mounds, several mummies were found, which are kept in the Hermitage. And thank God, no one is demanding their return. Moreover, these were the burials of the highest layer of Pazyryk society."

Recently, the Ukok Plateau has again attracted attention. This time thanks to geoglyphs - mysterious drawings of colossal size, similar to those discovered on the Nazca Plateau. Ukok geoglyphs were discovered by researchers from Altai State University. The first impression of the giant drawings was strange - as if a giant child was drawing in the cells in a school notebook - the lines sank into the ground and formed smooth and long channels along which you could walk for several hours. They were visible inside curved lines different shapes. According to scientists, the outlines of strange figures resemble rock paintings of the mythological creatures griffins, described in ancient Egyptian literature (a ferocious creature with female head and the bird's body). The drawings are separated by clear lines, similar to spears and arrows. Who drew these giant drawings on the ground and why? Perhaps they were once used to land spaceships? It is no coincidence that one of the translations of the name of the plateau sounds like “Listen to the heavens.”

According to Gennady Baryshnikov, geoglyphs are another myth, the same as Princess Ukok. In his opinion, conversations about geoglyphs were started by those who want to interfere with plans to build a road through Ukok.

Despite the fact that ten years ago the Ukok plateau was declared a quiet zone and included in the List world heritage UNESCO, the authorities have begun to consider a project to build a highway to China through the plateau sacred to the indigenous Altai people. (and now also a gas pipeline?) Contractors can make very good money on this pipeline. But with what money can one measure the irreparable damage that will be caused to a unique place covered in legends? And what other troubles will her still unburied princess bring to the Altai land?”

Push. As you understand, all this was written before the last one - last year’s flood in Altai, the likes of which had not happened for more than 100 years. If you believe the shamans who claim that the troubles of the region are caused by the anger of the White Lady, then the return of the mummy to Altai did not help?

The history of the mummy is interesting not only as an inexplicable phenomenon or a major archaeological discovery. It clearly shows the gap between the two worldviews. What is the law of life for an entire people, representatives modern civilization seems to be a set of strange superstitions that have no relation to reality.

In this article we will try to touch on a topic about which a lot has been written, said, reported, and even filmed. We will not look for exact and unambiguous answers to the many questions that arise in connection with this story. Our task is to look at this story from a different angle, as abstractly as possible and without taking it out of the general context.

2009 Hollywood. Performing Arts Championship. Talented participants take to the stage one after another, showing national costumes, performing music, and dancing. They reveal folk spirit and special energy hidden behind the external surroundings. More precisely, this surroundings are national costumes, folk traditions in the performance of music, songs are harmoniously combined with a spiritual component. 54 countries of the world are represented here, including 4 regions of our country.

Cheynesh Baytushkina, the daughter of the Altai people, represents the Altai Republic. Holding her breath, she walked onto the stage in complete silence. Her outfit is truly unusual. Particularly impressive is the tall and complex headdress and tattoos on the shoulder. The girl is dressed in a reconstructed outfit of the famous Princess Ukok. Famous for many, but perhaps not for everyone present in this room, not for all members of the jury. The archaic comus turned out to be the addition that made this picture complete. The jury could not resist - the Altai Republic, represented by Cheinesh, received three gold medals and the title of absolute world champion, winning in the categories “Instrumentalist of the original genre” and “National costume”. The story of the Ukok Princess received such an unusual continuation.

The burial of the Altai Princess was found in 1993 on the Ukok plateau. Since then, debates have not subsided about the significance of this discovery, about the status of the Princess herself, and in general - what to do next, how this story will end and whether it will end at all.

Ukok Plateau

So, the Ukok plateau. The first thing worth saying. The term “plateau” is not entirely correct here. It is more correct to say “plateau”. Lost in the south of Altai, at the junction of four states: Russia, Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan, this unique natural territory is one of the most mysterious and enigmatic. The southern border is the grandiose domes of the Tabyn-Bogdo-Ola massif, the northern border is the valley of the Dzhazator River. In the east there is the Sailyugem ridge and the upper reaches of the same river Dzhazator. The Dzhumalinsky springs are the actual eastern border of the plateau. It is more difficult to determine the western borders. Not here consensus. They are lost somewhere in the upper reaches of the Kara-Alakha and Koksu. But this situation with ambiguous definition of boundaries is quite common. Try to draw a clear boundary between Altai and Sayan Mountains!

Two basins, Kalgutinskaya and Bertekskaya, are the heart of Ukok. And often they are called Ukok! This is where the main archaeological sites are concentrated. The territory of these valleys is significantly lower (2200-2400 m) than the surrounding ridges (3000-4000 m). Since ancient times it was used for cattle breeding, “it was residential.” And this is where the versions begin. According to one of them, Ukok has always been a holy place, inaccessible. Moreover, people were brought here for burial. It was a kind of cemetery - the acropolis of Altai and not only. In particular, this applies to the Scythian time. But there are other opinions.

Without begging for the peculiarities and uniqueness of Ukok, it is worth noting that in Altai there are quite a few other places where historical monuments are concentrated. This is the Chui steppe, and the Chui valley, and the Pazyryk valley, and Karakol, etc. There is no less, and somewhere more monuments. There are no less places with a large concentration of mounds (and other artifacts) throughout the Altai-Sayan territory. And another thing that often doesn’t fit in our heads is whether a holy, sacred place can be used for life, and not just for “death.” Of course, in Altai there are places that the local population has been prohibited from visiting since ancient times. Is this what the Ukok plateau is like? In the Altai worldview, “ordinary” life and sacred rituals always coexist well. Moreover, both nature and home are a temple. Therefore, perhaps Ukok was the “heavenly pasture” that people dreamed of. It’s the same as Belovodye for Russians. Both are intended for life, but a pure and righteous life, a life of prosperity.

Kobdinsky tract

Now about something else - about the inaccessibility of Ukok. When you drive along the Chuysky tract, you think that traveling around Altai has always been so easy and pleasant. Today, the roads are quite well-maintained and the Chuisky tract, in fact, connects “east” and “west” (even if only in a local sense). But it is less than 100 years old, and before that there was the impassable Chuya trade route, which was not only inaccessible for wheeled travel, but also dangerous for movement on horseback. On the way there was the muddy Seminsky Pass, the steep Chike-Taman, deadly booms and crossings on the Katun, and then on the Chuya. One of the boms on the Katun - Kor-Kechu - is translated as “disastrous crossing”. Of course, Altai was not a dead end in the connections of neighboring regions. But the movements could not be widespread and easy. Altai was a kind of “fortress” where one could sit out. Ideas, foundations, and orders were “preserved” here. But here, as history shows, they originated.

The territory of Ukok is located in the extreme south of the Altai Republic, but hardly in the center of the Greater Altai, the ridges of which extend into Kazakhstan, China and especially deep into Mongolia. Today there are only three roads on the plateau: through the Bugymuiz (Bugumuyus) pass, through the Teply Klyuch pass and through the old Teply Klyuch pass. They all come from the north and are quite complex. You can drive along them only 2-3 months a year and then with significant difficulties. Off-road vehicles and experienced drivers required. The other two routes, through the Ulan-Daba pass from Mongolia and the Ukok pass from Kazakhstan, are closed today due to the lack of border crossings. But they are the key ones in the topic that we want to touch upon.

The Mongolian route was previously used by border guards - this makes it much easier to get to the outposts located on Ukok. From the Kazakhstan side, archaeologists climbed Ukok when they were doing excavations. All this is said to mean that this Mongolia-Kazakhstan through route was and is relatively simple for east-west travel. At one time it even received the name Kobdinsky tract. From Mongolian Kobdo (Khovd) the route passed through the territory of Ukok and further to the Bukhtarma region and the Irtysh region. Later it was the Chinese postal route. And in Soviet times, cattle were transported along this route from Mongolia to Semipalatinsk, to the largest meat processing plant in the USSR. The Kobda tract, which existed since ancient times, was nothing more than the northernmost branch of the Silk Road. And it was a fairly busy “highway”.

This is where the question arises: did people live here or did they just move around and use it for burials? Many Ukok tracts (such as Bertek) are covered with good grass and rich in salt marshes; they are excellent winter pastures. Not much snow falls on the open mountain plain, and even that is soon blown away by the wind. The wintering quarters of the shepherds are located along the edges of the valley at the northern and southern bases of the mountain slopes, where there is protection from wind and bad weather. Every year, about 20 families of shepherds live on the Ukok plateau in autumn and winter. Most of them are from Jazator. And each of them has tens and hundreds of animals - sheep, horses, cows and yaks. Herds graze only in their own territory, the border of which runs along a stream, lake or cliff. Ancient pastoralists grazed cattle here for a long time.

Excavations

Summer 1993. Ukok. Excavations of a small mound are underway. It was plundered in ancient times and later severely damaged during the construction of the road. This was the burial of a Karakoban warrior, in which two iron knives, two clay vessels, and fragments of gold foil were preserved. Three horses were buried with him. This could have all ended there, but Natalya Polosmak, who led the excavations, showed intuition not only in choosing this mound, but in digging further. And then came the most interesting thing - the log house, the permafrost. And that meant a lot. This meant that the lower burial was untouched and could become a real discovery. The burial chamber was opened for several days, gradually melting the ice, trying not to harm the contents. At the very bottom of the pit stood a burial chamber made of larch, the outside decorated with leather appliqués depicting deer. Behind its northern wall lay the skeletons of six horses. Only a person of very high social status could have owned so many riding horses.

In front of the sarcophagus there was a dish on which lay a piece of meat with a bronze knife stuck into it, vessels made of wood, horn and ceramics. The Princess's body was practically untouched by decay. She was tall, wearing a worn silk shirt and a red and white woolen skirt wrapped around her hips. On her belt hung a bag with cosmetics and a silver mirror in a wooden frame. On her feet are high felt boots, and in her ears are gold earrings. On her shaved head, under a 90 cm high headdress, she wore a horsehair wig. Her arms were covered with elaborate tattoos, and next to her stood a cup of coriander seeds.

According to many evidences, during the excavations, strange natural phenomena were observed in the form of a small earthquake and thunder. By a strange coincidence, none of the machines at the disposal of archaeologists turned out to be in working order. The archaeologists, along with their finds, were evacuated home in two helicopters. Between Barnaul and Novosibirsk, the helicopter in which Natalya was flying with the mummy made an emergency landing - one of the engines stalled. We got to Novosibirsk by car.

Mound

The Princess Mound is quite modest in size - only 18 m in diameter. The royal mounds in Altai reach 50 m in diameter or more. On the same Ukok there is more than one mound with dimensions significantly larger than 18 m. If we take into account the entire territory of the Altai-Sayan, then the sizes of the largest burials cannot be compared at all. 120 m – the size of the largest Scythian mound in this territory, located in the “Valley of the Kings”, in Tuva. You can read about this in an article in one of the issues of the online magazine “ARU-KEM” (). The peculiarity of the Princess mound was that it was a double burial. And this doesn't happen very often. Often relatives were later “buried” in the mounds, but this is radically different from our case. The upper burial was independent, it seemed to hide what was below.

In the same Tuva, in the same “Valley of the Kings”, the Arzhan-2 mound was opened in 2002, where the undisturbed burial of the king and queen was found. Archaeologists have never seen such wealth in the Scythian mounds of Siberia. It even became unclear how to count gold items. The clothes were covered with thousands of gold plaques, and the pants were covered with countless small gold beads. Gold items accumulated by 20 kg. Burial of the Princess in in this case looks very modest. But, as befits persons close to the cult, her clothing and accompaniment have, first of all, sacred meaning. And six golden horses and a unique headdress. Clothes made of the finest silk, a material practically never used in these parts, are framed by a thick red belt. Archaeologists believe that such a belt is a sign of a warrior and initiate. And the larch stirring stick found in her hands is an extremely important ritual symbol: even in pre-Buddhist times, such sticks were considered an instrument for the creation of the world and were placed in the hands of the highest divine persons. And, of course, tattoos and the ritual of mummification are unique - more on that below.

Unique headdress

A few words about the unique headdress. And again, the reader will not be amazed by how much gold was allocated for its production, the point is different - its size, complex design and, of course, impressive appearance. The wig headdress took up almost a third of the deck. It must be said that in ancient times it was the headdress and hairstyle that carried the most significant information about a person; each tribe had its own shape, and a person’s status within the tribe could be “read” by his jewelry. The shaved head of a Pazyryk woman was covered with a wig consisting of a felt cap, onto which a special plastic material was applied. Wooden ornaments were sewn onto the wig and covered with gold foil. At the crown of the head, the hair was specially collected into a bun, on top of which a “cone” made of red woolen threads was placed. The cone was crowned by a wooden deer standing on a ball, all covered with gold foil. Another carved deer with a forked body and ibex horns “lay” on a wig in front of the “cone”. At the back of the “cone”, a tall vertical structure made of felt was attached to the wig in the form of a rectangle with rounded edges (61 cm), covered with black woolen fabric, which, apparently, was a symbol of the “tree of life”: wooden deer “grazed” at its foot, at the top Fifteen composite wooden birds with leather wings, tails and legs, and long necks, like swans, were attached to the parts. All figures are made of cedar and covered with gold foil. In addition, a pointed cap made of felt, 84 cm long and wide brim, which in some cases was worn over a complex hairstyle.

Mummies

How unique is the fact of mummification in world culture and the culture of the Scythians? Many mummies have been found in the world. This is a separate and large topic. Here it is only worth saying that there is both natural and ritual mummification. Often a mummy is preserved thanks to their combination. And this is exactly our case. The woman's brain, internal organs, ribs and sternum were removed, the skull and abdominal cavity were filled with a substance like peat, sheep wool, horse hair, roots, sand and clay. Another nuance is that embalming was not some kind of privilege of the nobility - ordinary soldiers were also embalmed. In addition to sacred reasons, there may have been quite natural ones. Embalming the dead was a necessary part of the funeral rite among the Pazyryk people. The fact is that they buried their dead only twice a year - in the spring or early summer, and in the fall, that is, six months often passed from the moment of a person’s death to his burial. The construction of the mound, where a lens of permafrost was created - ice that preserved the burial for thousands of years - played an additional, and possibly decisive role in its preservation.

The Princess's mummy has gained particular fame, but is she alone among the archaeological discoveries of the Scythian world of Siberia? Far from it! Mummies have been found in Altai burial mounds before, many of which are now kept in the Hermitage. But in Soviet times due to the inaccessibility of conservation technologies, all of them were not preserved so well - they darkened and dried out. First of all, this applies to discoveries in the Great Pazyryk mounds. On that Ukok plateau, 2 years after the discovery of the Princess’s burial, in 1995, at the Verkh-Kaldzhin-ll monument, a male mummy with a perfectly preserved hairstyle and a tattoo of a huge “Scythian” deer on his shoulder was found. The warrior was buried in clothes, with a full set of weapons and in a magnificent sheepskin coat, decorated with leather appliqué and a wide “tail”.

Later, a discovery was made, better known as Cleopatra's Beads. Not far from the village of Manzherok in the Altai Republic, Novosibirsk archaeologists discovered in a mound from the Scythian period the mummy of a woman wearing beads around her neck. According to archaeologists, the beads were made in Egypt during the reign of the Ptolemaic dynasty there. This assumption allows us to make original technique bead making, which was practiced by the Egyptians at that time.

In 2008, a Scythian warrior was found in the Mongolian Altai, in an intact burial mound, in a zone close to the glaciers. The warrior, who was obviously rich, was covered in beaver and sable furs, as well as sheepskin. The intact skin on his upper body is covered in tattoos. But the most striking feature of the mummy was the hair: the man turned out to be a distinct blond. True, the hair could turn yellow after death. Two horses with richly decorated saddles and bridles, weapons, vessels made of clay and animal horns were placed in the grave next to the warrior to accompany him into the afterlife.

Most of the mummies of the Scythian-Siberian world are located high in the mountains, in conditions where permafrost persists. And just recently, in the Rubtsovsky district of the Altai Territory, in one of the Royal burial mounds of the Bugry monument, a unique mummy of the Scythian period was discovered. In this case, everyone was surprised by the preserved manicure on the woman’s hand. The body of a woman who died in the 4th century BC was well preserved by clothing covered with copper plaques, the oxides of which help preserve organic material. This is one of the few, if not the only, finds of mummies made in Siberia in the forest-steppe zone.

Another male mummy was found back in 1969 in Khakassia. The “Oglakhta” man belonged to the Tashtyk archaeological culture, widespread in the Minusinsk Basin about two thousand years ago. The mummies from Khakassia had tattoos. And more on this later.

Tattoos

The tattoos on the mummy from Khakassia were visible to the naked eye. But extensive research was not carried out on the find, and once she was in clothes, she did not immediately show the tattoos to the world! The mummies from the Pazyryk burial mounds had tattoos, but they were barely visible on only one of them. And then to this fact special attention they didn't pay either. The issue of tattoos became more acute after the discovery of the same Princess. Several tattoos on her were so clearly visible that this issue received new impetus for research. The Princess has both arms tattooed from her shoulders to her hands. Images are also applied to some phalanges of the fingers of both hands. Drawings blue stood out well against the white skin, but they were preserved only on the left hand, on the right - only fragments on the wrist and thumb. On the left shoulder there is a picture of a fantastic animal - a deer with the beak of a vulture, the antlers of a deer and a capricorn - the Altai long-eared griffin. The horns are decorated with vulture heads; a similar head is placed on the back of the animal, which is shown with a “twisted” body. Below, a ram is depicted in the same pose with its head thrown back; at his feet is the closed mouth of a spotted leopard with a long curled tail.

This discovery prompted scientists to resume research into tattoos on previously found mummies. And by luck, a method was found for detecting them on fairly decayed skin. The already mentioned mummy from Khakassia was examined and photographed in reflected infrared rays. The same was done with three mummies from the Second and Fifth Pazyryk mounds. It turned out that all the mummies have tattooed designs. The method works thanks to the soot contained in the dye used for the tattoo. In the photographs, the dark skin of the mummies looks very light, and the tattoos stand out contrastingly and clearly. Mummies found later in Ukok and the Mongolian Altai also had tattoos. But still, the most beautiful, mysterious and obviously endowed with a special sacred meaning the tattoos belong to the Princess. This was another reason for talking about the special status of women. Although exact value No one has explained the drawings yet.

The story continues

A special surge of interest in the Altai Princess occurred after the earthquake of 2003. Then the local population accused archaeologists that the terrible events were nothing more than the consequences of excavations on Ukok. Since then and to this day, disputes have not subsided about who this woman was and the fact that she needs to be returned to the Altai Republic. And the demands to return here have different “shades” - from the fact that the mummy needs to be buried again in the mound to the fact that it should simply be in Gorno-Altaisk. We will not go into these disputes. Moreover, the author does not want to discuss such subtle issues in this article. Perhaps this is a matter for future articles.

What is the actual state of affairs today? Now the mummy is in Novosibirsk, in the museum of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences. Work on its study continues. But already in 2012 she should return to the Altai Republic. Today, the national museum in Gorno-Altaisk is being reconstructed, a special extension is being built, where the tomb itself will be built. Conditions will be created here to ensure the safety of the mummy as a cultural and biological object. The money was allocated by Gazprom, which is lobbying for the construction of a gas pipeline through Ukok. Never ending, one story leads to the next.

We have not touched upon such issues as the racial origin of the Princess, her place in Altai legends, the ethical issues of excavations, or the question of whether she could have been a “princess” at all. The last question especially irritates scientists, since the status assigned by the press does not fit into their ideas. But we are not scientists - it’s easier for us. But the most important thing is that such discoveries excite society, raise acute and important issues. The story continues!

Video materials on the topic of Ukok and the Princess:

Princess Ukok

Experts suggest that this is what Princess Ukok looked like during her lifetime

Princess Ukoka (Altai princess, Ochy-bala) - the name given by journalists and residents of the Altai Republic to the mummy of a woman found during archaeological excavations at the Ak-Alakha burial ground in 1993. This is one of the most significant discoveries of Russian archeology at the end of the 20th century.

History of the find

Photo of the mummy of Princess Ukok

The peoples living in the Altai Mountains were known already in the second half of the 6th century BC. e. Herodotus wrote about them and called them “vultures guarding gold.” Also, ancient Chinese sources mention the “territorially close population of Altai.” The study of the “frozen” graves of Altai began in 1865 by V.V. Radlov.

Excavations of the Ak-Alakha-3 mound on the Ukok plateau (Altai Republic), in which the so-called princess was buried, began in 1993 by Natalya Polosmak - an archaeologist from Novosibirsk, doctor historical sciences. The mound was a dilapidated monument, which in ancient times they tried to rob. In our time, the monument was destroyed due to the construction of border communications. By the beginning of the excavations, the mound was in a semi-disassembled state and looked ruined: in the sixties, during the conflict with China, a fortified area was built in this area, the materials for which were taken from the mounds.

An Iron Age burial was discovered in the mound, under which there was another, more ancient one. During the excavations, archaeologists discovered that the deck in which the body of the buried woman was placed was filled with ice. That is why the woman’s mummy is well preserved. The lower burial was walled up in a layer of ice. This aroused great interest among archaeologists, since in such conditions very ancient things could be very well preserved.

The burial chamber was opened for several days, gradually melting the ice, trying not to harm the contents.

In the chamber they found six horses with saddles and harnesses, as well as a wooden larch block nailed with bronze nails. The contents of the burial clearly indicated the nobility of the buried person.

Research has shown that the burial dates back to the period of the Pazyryk culture of Altai and was made in V-III centuries B.C. Researchers believe that

Modern populations of the North Altai anthropological type, which include the Northern Altaians, Teleuts, Mountain Shors, as well as the Baraba Tatars of late times, are descendants of the carriers of the Pazyryk culture.

A 2001 analysis showed that representatives of the Pazyryk culture are closest in mitochondrial DNA to modern Selkups and Kets.

Appearance

The mummy lay on its side with its legs slightly pulled up. She had numerous tattoos on her arms. The mummies were wearing a silk shirt, a woolen skirt, felt socks, a fur coat and a wig. All these clothes were made of very high quality and indicate the high status of the buried person. She died at a young age (about 25 years old) and belonged to the middle strata of Pazyryk society.

Location

The mummy is kept in the Anokhin National Museum (Altai Republic, Gorno-Altaisk) in a sarcophagus with equipment for maintaining and controlling special temperature and humidity conditions. A special extension was built for the exhibit.

Public opinion

This fact caused discontent among a certain part of the Altai people. From their point of view, the “Princess of Ukok” should have been returned to Altai: some believed that it was enough to return the mummy to the territory of the republic, while others believe that it should be buried again in its original place.

Opinion of Vyacheslav Molodin

Film "Revenge of the Altai Princess"

Alena Zharovskaya’s film “Revenge of the Altai Princess,” shown on ORT, is characterized as far ahead of the republican newspapers in terms of the amount of gags and mystical nonsense .

Notes

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