February 7, 2025 • 31 mins
In the early 2000s, a story emerged online about a mysterious sarcophagus unearthed by miners in a remote Siberian village back in 1969. Inside, so they say, was the eerily preserved body of a woman, later dubbed the Tisul Princess—a discovery swiftly seized by Soviet authorities and buried in secrecy.
Decades later, another astonishing find—the Ice Maiden of the Altai Mountains—raised even more questions about ancient civilizations, lost histories, and the blurred line between legend and reality...
Written by Diane Hope and produced by Richard MacLean Smith
Find us at youtube.com/@unexplainedpod, tiktok.com/@unexplainedpodcast, twitter @unexplainedpod, facebook.com/unexplainedpodcast or www.unexplainedpodcast.com for more info. Thank you for listening.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, it's Richard maclin Smith here, not the impostor you've
been listening to on the podcasts, the real one. Join
me for Unexplained TV at YouTube dot com Forward Slash
Unexplained pod. Early in the noughties, a strange story crop
(00:30):
dark in Russian online forums, Originating from a remote region
of Siberia during the time of the Soviet Union. The
tale begins one September day in nineteen sixty nine near
the village of Arzavchik in the Tisol District of Kimarovo,
a region of southwestern Siberia. It is a place of
(00:52):
wild splendor, birch forests and bears, but our story takes
place deep underground, seventy meters to be precise. Local miners
are hard at work, hammering away at the coal seam.
It glistens darkly under their head lamps. This day is
just like any other down in the dank crime as
(01:15):
the soot covered miners swing their pickaxes heartily until that is.
One miner takes an especially heavy swing at the coal face,
only for it to suddenly crumble away right in front
of him. When the air finally clears of dust, the
men direct their torches to the face to find it
(01:36):
has been replaced by a small hollow about five meters deep,
and in the middle of it lies what appears for
all the world to be a sarcophagus. It has a strange,
unearthly appearance, long and narrow, and seemingly made of marble.
It is covered in intricate carvings. The stunned men tentatively
(02:00):
examine the peculiar object. They wonder if they should try
to open it, but decide in the end to first
inform their superiors about it. In its office above ground,
head of the local geology team, Alexander Mussalagin, orders the
men to bring the suppulchral artifact to the surface for
(02:20):
closer inspection. The miners are reluctant, however, worried that when
news of the find reaches government authorities, it will be
taken from them, scovering any chance of claiming a reward
for the extraordinary discovery. Perhaps the stone case is buried
with gold or precious stones. They wander in the end,
(02:43):
not wanting to risk a serious reprimand the men have
little choice but to bring the artifact to Massalagin, and
so it is, with some difficulty the men pull the
vast hunk of carved marble onto a mining cart and
head up to the surface. When they emerge into the
sunlight sometime later, they are greeted by Missalagan, whose eyes
(03:07):
light up on seeing the peculiar item. He watches as
the men chip away at the marble casing and some
kind of ancient sealant that surrounds it. When they finally
manage to open the lid insight, they find yet another casket,
this time made of metal, about two meters long and
(03:28):
one meter wide, with no visible seams or joints. Some
say it was shining with a strange, eerie light, but
the best was yet to come. You're listening to Unexplained
and I'm Richard McLean Smith. With no discernible seam or
(03:55):
rivets to attack, the miners have little choice but to
bust the case open with brute force. Being as careful
as they can, the men hack away at the top
like a tin can, until eventually they are able to
pry it open. Alexander Mussalagan does the honors as he
lifts off the top. The rest of the men stand
(04:18):
back and gasp. Inside the casket lies the body of
a young woman in an uncanny state of preservation, as
if she had only fallen asleep the previous day. Apparent
eyewitness accounts described the woman as having a refined beauty,
about twenty five to thirty years old and around one
(04:41):
hundred and seventy centimeters tall. Her skin was said to
be incredibly white, while her hair was described as cascading
down over her shoulders to her waist. Some claim it
was jet black, others that it was blonde. Her eyes
which are open or a dazzling azure in color, her
(05:03):
hands soft and pale, with neatly cropped nails, and she
is clad in a white knee length robe made from
a fine unknown fabric, delicately embroidered with flowers, and completely
surrounding it all is a curious, pink, viscous liquid. For
(05:24):
a moment, the men just stand around aghast, trying to
fathom what an earth they have found. Then one of
the miners, and Atollicus nets Off, steps forward with the
sudden urge to dip his finger into the strange liquid.
Then he proceeds to taste it. Another miner, even Karnikov,
(05:46):
dashes off to grab a camera from his back. When
he later tries to take a picture of the body,
he has a fainting fit and collapses. Having seen absolutely
nothing like it before, Geologist Alexander Musalagan returns to his
office to report the puzzling fine to the authorities. Is
(06:07):
ordered immediately to stop the miners from working and to
make sure they all keep quiet about the discovery. Within
twenty four hours, it's said that government officials in Moscow
sent a helicopter to retrieve the coffin. When the crew arrive,
wearing gray protective suits, they find that the coffin is
(06:28):
too heavy for the helicopter to lift. To make the
casket lighter, they decide to drain the pink fluid from it.
Moments later, they can only stare in horror as the
corpse in sight suddenly begins to blacken, Its skin grows
tough and wisened. The liquid is ordered to be poured
(06:50):
back in, at which point the corpse immediately regains its
perverse vitality. A larger helicopter is sent, which Julie airlifts
the coffin to a secret location. Soon afterwards, it is
said that a team of KGP agents arrived to quarantine
(07:10):
the site. Any witnesses to the event are promptly round
up and kept in isolation for several days. They are
warned never to speak about what they'd seen, or else
they be charged with sedition, a crime punishable by death,
or even worse, banishment to a Siberian gulac. Some accounts
(07:42):
of that apparent discovery in Teesul on that weird September
in nineteen sixty nine include the additional bizarre details such
as the woman had a star shaped tattoo on her chest,
six fingers on each hand, and even a third on
her forehead. But the one consistent part of the story
(08:05):
is that everyone who saw her agreed that she looked
like a princess, or at least a person of some importance,
and so she became known as the Teesaw Princess after
the region she was found in. Despite the KGB's warnings,
inevitably the incredible story got out and was soon spreading
(08:27):
rapidly among local towns and villages. Some claimed that the
so called princess was a sacred person who came from
a distant past or another world to protect them, but
then a series of unfortunate incidents was said to have
befalled some of the villagers. Even Karnikov, who had apparently
(08:50):
taken a picture of the body and collapsed, was alleged
to have later died in a motorcycle accident. The miner's leader,
Yur Smyirrnoff, was reportedly drowned in a flood just a
month after the discovery, and Anatoly kus Netsov, the man
who tasted the mysterious pink fluid, is said to have
(09:12):
experienced a mental breakdown only weeks later after being admitted
to a psychiatric hospital. He later escaped in a delusional
state and died of hypothermia on his own doorstep, rendered
unable to recognize his own home or even remember how
to enter it. Another villager, who began a campaign to
(09:35):
let the details of the find be known to the public,
was also said to have died in mysterious circumstances after
he wrote letters to some members of the government's Central Committee.
His official cause of death was reported as heart failure.
The outbreak of an unspecified disease and crop failures were
(09:55):
also said to have occurred, leading villagers to wonder if
the Teesel Princess had in fact brought a curse upon them.
In some reports, an army of specialists and workers were
sent to search for more artifacts, and the part of
the mine where the princess had apparently been discovered was
(10:16):
cordoned off. Military personnel as said to have been posted
there to keep the press and curious locals away. One night,
a few of the soldiers as said to have visited
a local pub, where one of them revealed that, in fact,
three more sarcophagi were found close to the first one. Strangely,
(10:38):
the incident was unknown until the early two thousands, when
reports started to appear in the Russian bloggersphere. Some reports
claimed that scientists in the former USSR had examined the
find but were unable to identify the pink and balming
fluid with the miraculous restorative properties. Scientists who who apparently
(11:00):
analyzed the fabric at the princess's dress were also said
to be unable to determine its nature and its age.
Some speculated that the fabric had been manufactured with an
unknown advanced technology. By twenty seventeen, online speculation about the
(11:27):
supposed Princess Teesol story was becoming even more elaborate. Among
the most startling were claims that the Teesyl Princess had
been examined by an unidentified elderly professor from Nova Sibirsk.
The professor had apparently concluded that the kodava and the
casket were older than the coal deposit in which they'd
(11:49):
been found, stating that the discovery would revolutionize our understanding
of Earth's history. He allegedly concluded that the Tiesol Princess
and her coffin were an improbable eight hundred million years old.
This was at the end of a period in Earth's
history called the Neoproterozoic, when the available evidence suggests that
(12:13):
the Earth underwent an ice age so cold that ice
sheets not only capped the polar latitudes, but may have
extended almost to the equator. The most outlandish stories that
swirled around the Teesyl Princess have proposed that the woman
was a member of a technologically advanced civilization predating our own,
(12:37):
or even that she was a visitor from another planet,
preserved in a state of suspended animation and possessed of
paranormal abilities, including telepathy, telekinesis, and precognition. Her discovery was
also said to have been accompanied by sightings of UFOs
(12:57):
and other paranormal activities in the region. The most ardent
conspiracy theorists have said that those in power at the
time of the discovery rushed to cover up the entire
incident out of a fear that the story would have
threatened their control over historical narratives that they wished to maintain.
(13:18):
More eagle eyed commentators have spotted the odd similarity between
this story and that of the well known fairy tale
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The dwarfs who discover
the sleeping snow White in her magical casket were also miners.
Whatever you believe, If indeed it was all simply made up,
(13:41):
you might be surprised to learn that there are some parts,
at least of the Teesil Princess story that were sourced
from a very real and equally mysterious find heralding from
the steps of the Ukarck Plateau, also located in southwestern Siberia,
the plateau sits among the Altai Mountains, close to Russia's
(14:04):
borders with China, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia. It was there in
nineteen ninety three that, as some have declared it, one
of the most significant archaeological finds of the twentieth century
was made. In the summer of nineteen ninety three, Russian
(14:30):
archaeologist Natalia Polosmak, a senior research fellow at the Russian
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography in the Vosibirsk, arrived with
a field team on the steps of the Yukonk Plateau.
It's a place characterized by a harshly arid climate and
bitterly cold winters in what is now the Autonomous Republic
(14:53):
of Altai. It was the fourth year in a row
that the archaeologists had traveled there to carry out field research.
Polosmac specialized in the study of Bronze Age Eurasian nomads,
especially those known as the Basuric peoples, a culture which
had thrived in the region between the sixth and second
(15:15):
centuries BCE. She and her team were on the hunt
for evidence of how this ancient people had once lived
and died. Polosmac was taken by her guide to investigate
a series of Kurgans, ancient burial mounds that can be
found throughout the area. Filled with sediment and covered with
(15:38):
piles of rocks, they typically mark the site of a
chambered tomb. The Kurgans Polosmac was taken to were located
in a narrow strip of disputed territory on the Chinese
Russian border, and as such had remained untouched for millennia.
On arrival at the site, Polosmac felt a Russia adrenaline
(16:01):
as she looked out over the small handful of burial mounts,
thrilled at the prospect of what they might discover, but
it was tough going just below the surface, the tundra
like step was still frozen. The team hadn't been working
for long before they hit their first burial chamber. It
(16:21):
housed a coffin fashioned from stone and wood, containing a
human skeleton. Beside it laid the remains of three horses,
but very little in the way of grave goods. When
they discovered a shaft leading into the chamber, they guessed
that it had likely already been raided by grave robbers
(16:41):
thousands of years before. But as the team continued to excavate,
they began to uncover another, even more ancient burial chamber
below one the grave robbers seemed not to have found. Instead,
the shaft they'd dug to rob the grave had allowed
water from a nearby spring to seep into the deeper
(17:04):
chamber below. Over time, the water had frozen, forming a
solid block of ice around the chamber's contents. As such,
they'd remained unthawed in the permafrost of the step over
thousands of years. What they found in sight was nothing
short of remarkable. There was a strangely elongated coffin about
(17:30):
eight feet in length, made of a solid larch tree trunk,
decorated with leather applicates depicting deer figures. Alongside it were
two small wood tables on which had been placed a
kind of last supper for the departed to take with
them on their journey into the world of the dead.
(17:52):
From the style of the burial and the grave goods,
archaeologist Natalia Plosmac had little doubt that she'd found the
remains of a member of the Berzuric people, but this
burial was like nothing she had ever come across before.
(18:18):
The coffin Palosmac and her team found was surrounded by
six horses, oriented with their heads towards the east. This
was a common practice in Berzuric burials, but usually with
just one or two horses. The number in this burial
indicated a person of extremely high status. Eventually it came
(18:41):
time to open the lid. Inside they found a solid,
milky block of ice through which a body could just
about be glimpsed. The team quickly set about painstakingly melting
the ice away little by little with cups of hot water,
until gradually the body began to emerge. It was a
(19:05):
female about twenty to thirty years old at the time
of her death, buried lying curled on her side as
if simply asleep, and thanks to the ice, it was
in an eerily pristine state of preservation. Although there was
very little skin remaining on her head, much of her
hair and the rest of her skin was intact, but
(19:28):
around one hundred and seventy centimeters or five and a
half feet, she'd been unusually tall for the people of
that time. As her body thawed from the protective casing
of ice, a member of the team noticed something strange
on her left shoulder, a huge tattoo of a deer
with its antlers sprouting flowers. More tattoos were found on
(19:53):
her wrist and one of her thumbs. She was buried
in sumptuous clothing, a crimson and white striped woolen skirt
with a tassel belt, leggings trimmed with fur, and a
small mirror made from polished metal and wood carved with
deer figures. Of most interest was her blouse made of
(20:16):
yellow tussa, a wild silk characteristic of the forested regions
of India, indicating that the Bazuric likely had trade links
with the region. The woman's head had been shaven and
her skull filled with pine martin fur. Most striking of
oar was the three foot ornamental head dress that had
(20:38):
been placed on her head, which explained the unusually long
coffin covered with felt and embellished with eight carved catlike
figures which were covered in gold, all of which suggested
an individual who likely had an elevated status as a
priestess or shaman of her community. The woman was given
(21:02):
the name the Ice Maiden and was determined to have
lived around two and a half thousand years ago. Subsequent
detailed forensic examination of the body revealed tantalizing fragmentary glimpses
into an ultimately tragic life story. The young woman was
incredibly thin for her height, likely weighed just over one
(21:25):
hundred pounds when she died. The reason for this emerged
when strange growths were observed in various parts of her body,
which turned out to be cancerous tumors. As well as
the tumans, the so called Ice Maiden was found to
(21:47):
have a dislocated hip and several bone fractures, as if
she had fallen from some height. She had traces of
mercury and copper in her nostrils, perhaps for medicinal purposes
or to induce an altered state of consciousness. The archaeologists
speculated that the young priestess had likely been taken by
(22:10):
the tribe to their winter pasturing grounds despite her poor
state of health. Had she fallen from her horse during
the journey, or had she thrown herself from some high
ground in an attempted suicide to relieve herself from the
painful torment of the cancer. The Ice Maiden's remains were
(22:30):
eventually taken to the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography in
de Vosibius for preservation. Then, in September twenty twelve, the
mummy was returned to the Altai, where she's been kept
on display ever since. At the Republican National Museum in
the region's capital, Gorno Altaysk. The Ice Maiden has become
(22:53):
a symbol of the Altai's ethnic identity. Many Altai people
say that to claim is to claimed their rights to
their land, which have long been in dispute with the
Russian government, But to some she has become much more
than just their nomadic progenitor. In twenty twenty, when the
(23:14):
coronavirus pandemic swept much of the world, it was slow
to reach the Altai region. Reports in some Russian news
media claimed that some among the Altai considered that the
ice Princess was acting as a lucky charm or talisman,
protecting her people from the deadly virus. The State Museum
(23:35):
in Gorno Altaysk boasts a wealth of archaeological material. Valuable
artifacts are laid out filling countless display cabinets on the walls,
stone tools dating back three hundred thousand years, Neanderthal's teeth,
and ancient animals found freeze dried in the Gobi Desert
(23:56):
in Mongolia. There is even a prehistoric painting on a
slab of rock. It depicts a strange, blood red man
with what looked like antennae instead of years. A glass
case next to the Ice Maiden contains the equally well
preserved body of a man believed to have been a shepherd
from the same era, also found on the plateau back
(24:19):
in nineteen ninety five, but the Ice Maiden takes pride
of place today. The so called Ice Maiden lies curled
on her side in a glass case, her body partly
(24:39):
covered demurely by a semi transparent white veil. Her yellowed
waxen skin is shiny, resembling smooth, well aged leather, and,
although somewhat faded, the intricate indigo tattoos depicting the fantastical
deer with flowers growing from their horns remain clearly visible
(25:02):
on her left arm and shoulder. A reconstruction of her
face has been made using police pathology techniques, while a
replica of her head dress, along with the original silk
shirt and woolen skirt in which she was buried, are
all exhibited next to her. Miraculously unspoilt. Altai herdsmen still
(25:25):
bring their sheep and horses to the plateau during winter,
where fierce winds blow the snow off the grass, providing
grazing land for their animals. Even in the freezing temperatures,
and the Altai region remains a potentially rich hunting ground
for archaeologists. There are very likely more ancient people like
(25:47):
the Ice Maiden and the Shepherd lying under the frozen ground,
but at least for the time being, excavations have been
forbidden by the Autai people. Time to recover remaining mummified
corpses from the once permanently frozen ground is now running
out as climate change, whilst the permafrost around the remaining
(26:10):
Altai tombs, if they continue to be left unrecovered, any
bodies still buried may be lost altogether to decay as
the climate continues to warm. And perhaps that's just how
it should be. But who was this high status young woman, who,
(26:31):
unlike the Teesoul princess, can be said to have genuinely
once lived and ridden her horses across the ancient steps
of Altai. How did her body become so cancer ridden
and broken? How much did she suffer before she died?
And what did her loss mean to the people who
(26:51):
consigned her with such loving care and dignity into the
icy embrace of the frozen ground. It seems that for now,
at least the answer to all these questions more likely
remain unexplained. This episode was written by Diane Hope and
(27:15):
produced by me Richard mc lean smith. Diane is an
audio producer and sound recordedst in her own right. You
can find out more about her work at Dianehope dot
com and on Instagram at in the sound Field. Unexplained
is an Avy Club Productions podcast created by Richard mc
(27:36):
lean smith. All other elements in the podcast, including the music,
are also produced by me Richard mc lean smith. Unexplained.
The book and audiobook is now available to buy world wide.
You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, and
other bookstores. Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever
(27:57):
you get your podcasts, and feel free to get into
much with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've
heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of
your own you'd like to share. You can find out
more at Unexplained podcast dot com and reach us online
through Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com.
(28:17):
Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast name
Hello, it's Richard maclin Smith here, not the impostor you've
been listening to on the podcasts, the real one. Join
me for Unexplained TV at YouTube dot com Forward Slash
Unexplained pod. Early in the noughties, a strange story crop
(00:30):
dark in Russian online forums, Originating from a remote region
of Siberia during the time of the Soviet Union. The
tale begins one September day in nineteen sixty nine near
the village of Arzavchik in the Tisol District of Kimarovo,
a region of southwestern Siberia. It is a place of
(00:52):
wild splendor, birch forests and bears, but our story takes
place deep underground, seventy meters to be precise. Local miners
are hard at work, hammering away at the coal seam.
It glistens darkly under their head lamps. This day is
just like any other down in the dank crime as
(01:15):
the soot covered miners swing their pickaxes heartily until that is.
One miner takes an especially heavy swing at the coal face,
only for it to suddenly crumble away right in front
of him. When the air finally clears of dust, the
men direct their torches to the face to find it
(01:36):
has been replaced by a small hollow about five meters deep,
and in the middle of it lies what appears for
all the world to be a sarcophagus. It has a strange,
unearthly appearance, long and narrow, and seemingly made of marble.
It is covered in intricate carvings. The stunned men tentatively
(02:00):
examine the peculiar object. They wonder if they should try
to open it, but decide in the end to first
inform their superiors about it. In its office above ground,
head of the local geology team, Alexander Mussalagin, orders the
men to bring the suppulchral artifact to the surface for
(02:20):
closer inspection. The miners are reluctant, however, worried that when
news of the find reaches government authorities, it will be
taken from them, scovering any chance of claiming a reward
for the extraordinary discovery. Perhaps the stone case is buried
with gold or precious stones. They wander in the end,
(02:43):
not wanting to risk a serious reprimand the men have
little choice but to bring the artifact to Massalagin, and
so it is, with some difficulty the men pull the
vast hunk of carved marble onto a mining cart and
head up to the surface. When they emerge into the
sunlight sometime later, they are greeted by Missalagan, whose eyes
(03:07):
light up on seeing the peculiar item. He watches as
the men chip away at the marble casing and some
kind of ancient sealant that surrounds it. When they finally
manage to open the lid insight, they find yet another casket,
this time made of metal, about two meters long and
(03:28):
one meter wide, with no visible seams or joints. Some
say it was shining with a strange, eerie light, but
the best was yet to come. You're listening to Unexplained
and I'm Richard McLean Smith. With no discernible seam or
(03:55):
rivets to attack, the miners have little choice but to
bust the case open with brute force. Being as careful
as they can, the men hack away at the top
like a tin can, until eventually they are able to
pry it open. Alexander Mussalagan does the honors as he
lifts off the top. The rest of the men stand
(04:18):
back and gasp. Inside the casket lies the body of
a young woman in an uncanny state of preservation, as
if she had only fallen asleep the previous day. Apparent
eyewitness accounts described the woman as having a refined beauty,
about twenty five to thirty years old and around one
(04:41):
hundred and seventy centimeters tall. Her skin was said to
be incredibly white, while her hair was described as cascading
down over her shoulders to her waist. Some claim it
was jet black, others that it was blonde. Her eyes
which are open or a dazzling azure in color, her
(05:03):
hands soft and pale, with neatly cropped nails, and she
is clad in a white knee length robe made from
a fine unknown fabric, delicately embroidered with flowers, and completely
surrounding it all is a curious, pink, viscous liquid. For
(05:24):
a moment, the men just stand around aghast, trying to
fathom what an earth they have found. Then one of
the miners, and Atollicus nets Off, steps forward with the
sudden urge to dip his finger into the strange liquid.
Then he proceeds to taste it. Another miner, even Karnikov,
(05:46):
dashes off to grab a camera from his back. When
he later tries to take a picture of the body,
he has a fainting fit and collapses. Having seen absolutely
nothing like it before, Geologist Alexander Musalagan returns to his
office to report the puzzling fine to the authorities. Is
(06:07):
ordered immediately to stop the miners from working and to
make sure they all keep quiet about the discovery. Within
twenty four hours, it's said that government officials in Moscow
sent a helicopter to retrieve the coffin. When the crew arrive,
wearing gray protective suits, they find that the coffin is
(06:28):
too heavy for the helicopter to lift. To make the
casket lighter, they decide to drain the pink fluid from it.
Moments later, they can only stare in horror as the
corpse in sight suddenly begins to blacken, Its skin grows
tough and wisened. The liquid is ordered to be poured
(06:50):
back in, at which point the corpse immediately regains its
perverse vitality. A larger helicopter is sent, which Julie airlifts
the coffin to a secret location. Soon afterwards, it is
said that a team of KGP agents arrived to quarantine
(07:10):
the site. Any witnesses to the event are promptly round
up and kept in isolation for several days. They are
warned never to speak about what they'd seen, or else
they be charged with sedition, a crime punishable by death,
or even worse, banishment to a Siberian gulac. Some accounts
(07:42):
of that apparent discovery in Teesul on that weird September
in nineteen sixty nine include the additional bizarre details such
as the woman had a star shaped tattoo on her chest,
six fingers on each hand, and even a third on
her forehead. But the one consistent part of the story
(08:05):
is that everyone who saw her agreed that she looked
like a princess, or at least a person of some importance,
and so she became known as the Teesaw Princess after
the region she was found in. Despite the KGB's warnings,
inevitably the incredible story got out and was soon spreading
(08:27):
rapidly among local towns and villages. Some claimed that the
so called princess was a sacred person who came from
a distant past or another world to protect them, but
then a series of unfortunate incidents was said to have
befalled some of the villagers. Even Karnikov, who had apparently
(08:50):
taken a picture of the body and collapsed, was alleged
to have later died in a motorcycle accident. The miner's leader,
Yur Smyirrnoff, was reportedly drowned in a flood just a
month after the discovery, and Anatoly kus Netsov, the man
who tasted the mysterious pink fluid, is said to have
(09:12):
experienced a mental breakdown only weeks later after being admitted
to a psychiatric hospital. He later escaped in a delusional
state and died of hypothermia on his own doorstep, rendered
unable to recognize his own home or even remember how
to enter it. Another villager, who began a campaign to
(09:35):
let the details of the find be known to the public,
was also said to have died in mysterious circumstances after
he wrote letters to some members of the government's Central Committee.
His official cause of death was reported as heart failure.
The outbreak of an unspecified disease and crop failures were
(09:55):
also said to have occurred, leading villagers to wonder if
the Teesel Princess had in fact brought a curse upon them.
In some reports, an army of specialists and workers were
sent to search for more artifacts, and the part of
the mine where the princess had apparently been discovered was
(10:16):
cordoned off. Military personnel as said to have been posted
there to keep the press and curious locals away. One night,
a few of the soldiers as said to have visited
a local pub, where one of them revealed that, in fact,
three more sarcophagi were found close to the first one. Strangely,
(10:38):
the incident was unknown until the early two thousands, when
reports started to appear in the Russian bloggersphere. Some reports
claimed that scientists in the former USSR had examined the
find but were unable to identify the pink and balming
fluid with the miraculous restorative properties. Scientists who who apparently
(11:00):
analyzed the fabric at the princess's dress were also said
to be unable to determine its nature and its age.
Some speculated that the fabric had been manufactured with an
unknown advanced technology. By twenty seventeen, online speculation about the
(11:27):
supposed Princess Teesol story was becoming even more elaborate. Among
the most startling were claims that the Teesyl Princess had
been examined by an unidentified elderly professor from Nova Sibirsk.
The professor had apparently concluded that the kodava and the
casket were older than the coal deposit in which they'd
(11:49):
been found, stating that the discovery would revolutionize our understanding
of Earth's history. He allegedly concluded that the Tiesol Princess
and her coffin were an improbable eight hundred million years old.
This was at the end of a period in Earth's
history called the Neoproterozoic, when the available evidence suggests that
(12:13):
the Earth underwent an ice age so cold that ice
sheets not only capped the polar latitudes, but may have
extended almost to the equator. The most outlandish stories that
swirled around the Teesyl Princess have proposed that the woman
was a member of a technologically advanced civilization predating our own,
(12:37):
or even that she was a visitor from another planet,
preserved in a state of suspended animation and possessed of
paranormal abilities, including telepathy, telekinesis, and precognition. Her discovery was
also said to have been accompanied by sightings of UFOs
(12:57):
and other paranormal activities in the region. The most ardent
conspiracy theorists have said that those in power at the
time of the discovery rushed to cover up the entire
incident out of a fear that the story would have
threatened their control over historical narratives that they wished to maintain.
(13:18):
More eagle eyed commentators have spotted the odd similarity between
this story and that of the well known fairy tale
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The dwarfs who discover
the sleeping snow White in her magical casket were also miners.
Whatever you believe, If indeed it was all simply made up,
(13:41):
you might be surprised to learn that there are some parts,
at least of the Teesil Princess story that were sourced
from a very real and equally mysterious find heralding from
the steps of the Ukarck Plateau, also located in southwestern Siberia,
the plateau sits among the Altai Mountains, close to Russia's
(14:04):
borders with China, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia. It was there in
nineteen ninety three that, as some have declared it, one
of the most significant archaeological finds of the twentieth century
was made. In the summer of nineteen ninety three, Russian
(14:30):
archaeologist Natalia Polosmak, a senior research fellow at the Russian
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography in the Vosibirsk, arrived with
a field team on the steps of the Yukonk Plateau.
It's a place characterized by a harshly arid climate and
bitterly cold winters in what is now the Autonomous Republic
(14:53):
of Altai. It was the fourth year in a row
that the archaeologists had traveled there to carry out field research.
Polosmac specialized in the study of Bronze Age Eurasian nomads,
especially those known as the Basuric peoples, a culture which
had thrived in the region between the sixth and second
(15:15):
centuries BCE. She and her team were on the hunt
for evidence of how this ancient people had once lived
and died. Polosmac was taken by her guide to investigate
a series of Kurgans, ancient burial mounds that can be
found throughout the area. Filled with sediment and covered with
(15:38):
piles of rocks, they typically mark the site of a
chambered tomb. The Kurgans Polosmac was taken to were located
in a narrow strip of disputed territory on the Chinese
Russian border, and as such had remained untouched for millennia.
On arrival at the site, Polosmac felt a Russia adrenaline
(16:01):
as she looked out over the small handful of burial mounts,
thrilled at the prospect of what they might discover, but
it was tough going just below the surface, the tundra
like step was still frozen. The team hadn't been working
for long before they hit their first burial chamber. It
(16:21):
housed a coffin fashioned from stone and wood, containing a
human skeleton. Beside it laid the remains of three horses,
but very little in the way of grave goods. When
they discovered a shaft leading into the chamber, they guessed
that it had likely already been raided by grave robbers
(16:41):
thousands of years before. But as the team continued to excavate,
they began to uncover another, even more ancient burial chamber
below one the grave robbers seemed not to have found. Instead,
the shaft they'd dug to rob the grave had allowed
water from a nearby spring to seep into the deeper
(17:04):
chamber below. Over time, the water had frozen, forming a
solid block of ice around the chamber's contents. As such,
they'd remained unthawed in the permafrost of the step over
thousands of years. What they found in sight was nothing
short of remarkable. There was a strangely elongated coffin about
(17:30):
eight feet in length, made of a solid larch tree trunk,
decorated with leather applicates depicting deer figures. Alongside it were
two small wood tables on which had been placed a
kind of last supper for the departed to take with
them on their journey into the world of the dead.
(17:52):
From the style of the burial and the grave goods,
archaeologist Natalia Plosmac had little doubt that she'd found the
remains of a member of the Berzuric people, but this
burial was like nothing she had ever come across before.
(18:18):
The coffin Palosmac and her team found was surrounded by
six horses, oriented with their heads towards the east. This
was a common practice in Berzuric burials, but usually with
just one or two horses. The number in this burial
indicated a person of extremely high status. Eventually it came
(18:41):
time to open the lid. Inside they found a solid,
milky block of ice through which a body could just
about be glimpsed. The team quickly set about painstakingly melting
the ice away little by little with cups of hot water,
until gradually the body began to emerge. It was a
(19:05):
female about twenty to thirty years old at the time
of her death, buried lying curled on her side as
if simply asleep, and thanks to the ice, it was
in an eerily pristine state of preservation. Although there was
very little skin remaining on her head, much of her
hair and the rest of her skin was intact, but
(19:28):
around one hundred and seventy centimeters or five and a
half feet, she'd been unusually tall for the people of
that time. As her body thawed from the protective casing
of ice, a member of the team noticed something strange
on her left shoulder, a huge tattoo of a deer
with its antlers sprouting flowers. More tattoos were found on
(19:53):
her wrist and one of her thumbs. She was buried
in sumptuous clothing, a crimson and white striped woolen skirt
with a tassel belt, leggings trimmed with fur, and a
small mirror made from polished metal and wood carved with
deer figures. Of most interest was her blouse made of
(20:16):
yellow tussa, a wild silk characteristic of the forested regions
of India, indicating that the Bazuric likely had trade links
with the region. The woman's head had been shaven and
her skull filled with pine martin fur. Most striking of
oar was the three foot ornamental head dress that had
(20:38):
been placed on her head, which explained the unusually long
coffin covered with felt and embellished with eight carved catlike
figures which were covered in gold, all of which suggested
an individual who likely had an elevated status as a
priestess or shaman of her community. The woman was given
(21:02):
the name the Ice Maiden and was determined to have
lived around two and a half thousand years ago. Subsequent
detailed forensic examination of the body revealed tantalizing fragmentary glimpses
into an ultimately tragic life story. The young woman was
incredibly thin for her height, likely weighed just over one
(21:25):
hundred pounds when she died. The reason for this emerged
when strange growths were observed in various parts of her body,
which turned out to be cancerous tumors. As well as
the tumans, the so called Ice Maiden was found to
(21:47):
have a dislocated hip and several bone fractures, as if
she had fallen from some height. She had traces of
mercury and copper in her nostrils, perhaps for medicinal purposes
or to induce an altered state of consciousness. The archaeologists
speculated that the young priestess had likely been taken by
(22:10):
the tribe to their winter pasturing grounds despite her poor
state of health. Had she fallen from her horse during
the journey, or had she thrown herself from some high
ground in an attempted suicide to relieve herself from the
painful torment of the cancer. The Ice Maiden's remains were
(22:30):
eventually taken to the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography in
de Vosibius for preservation. Then, in September twenty twelve, the
mummy was returned to the Altai, where she's been kept
on display ever since. At the Republican National Museum in
the region's capital, Gorno Altaysk. The Ice Maiden has become
(22:53):
a symbol of the Altai's ethnic identity. Many Altai people
say that to claim is to claimed their rights to
their land, which have long been in dispute with the
Russian government, But to some she has become much more
than just their nomadic progenitor. In twenty twenty, when the
(23:14):
coronavirus pandemic swept much of the world, it was slow
to reach the Altai region. Reports in some Russian news
media claimed that some among the Altai considered that the
ice Princess was acting as a lucky charm or talisman,
protecting her people from the deadly virus. The State Museum
(23:35):
in Gorno Altaysk boasts a wealth of archaeological material. Valuable
artifacts are laid out filling countless display cabinets on the walls,
stone tools dating back three hundred thousand years, Neanderthal's teeth,
and ancient animals found freeze dried in the Gobi Desert
(23:56):
in Mongolia. There is even a prehistoric painting on a
slab of rock. It depicts a strange, blood red man
with what looked like antennae instead of years. A glass
case next to the Ice Maiden contains the equally well
preserved body of a man believed to have been a shepherd
from the same era, also found on the plateau back
(24:19):
in nineteen ninety five, but the Ice Maiden takes pride
of place today. The so called Ice Maiden lies curled
on her side in a glass case, her body partly
(24:39):
covered demurely by a semi transparent white veil. Her yellowed
waxen skin is shiny, resembling smooth, well aged leather, and,
although somewhat faded, the intricate indigo tattoos depicting the fantastical
deer with flowers growing from their horns remain clearly visible
(25:02):
on her left arm and shoulder. A reconstruction of her
face has been made using police pathology techniques, while a
replica of her head dress, along with the original silk
shirt and woolen skirt in which she was buried, are
all exhibited next to her. Miraculously unspoilt. Altai herdsmen still
(25:25):
bring their sheep and horses to the plateau during winter,
where fierce winds blow the snow off the grass, providing
grazing land for their animals. Even in the freezing temperatures,
and the Altai region remains a potentially rich hunting ground
for archaeologists. There are very likely more ancient people like
(25:47):
the Ice Maiden and the Shepherd lying under the frozen ground,
but at least for the time being, excavations have been
forbidden by the Autai people. Time to recover remaining mummified
corpses from the once permanently frozen ground is now running
out as climate change, whilst the permafrost around the remaining
(26:10):
Altai tombs, if they continue to be left unrecovered, any
bodies still buried may be lost altogether to decay as
the climate continues to warm. And perhaps that's just how
it should be. But who was this high status young woman, who,
(26:31):
unlike the Teesoul princess, can be said to have genuinely
once lived and ridden her horses across the ancient steps
of Altai. How did her body become so cancer ridden
and broken? How much did she suffer before she died?
And what did her loss mean to the people who
(26:51):
consigned her with such loving care and dignity into the
icy embrace of the frozen ground. It seems that for now,
at least the answer to all these questions more likely
remain unexplained. This episode was written by Diane Hope and
(27:15):
produced by me Richard mc lean smith. Diane is an
audio producer and sound recordedst in her own right. You
can find out more about her work at Dianehope dot
com and on Instagram at in the sound Field. Unexplained
is an Avy Club Productions podcast created by Richard mc
(27:36):
lean smith. All other elements in the podcast, including the music,
are also produced by me Richard mc lean smith. Unexplained.
The book and audiobook is now available to buy world wide.
You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, and
other bookstores. Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever
(27:57):
you get your podcasts, and feel free to get into
much with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've
heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of
your own you'd like to share. You can find out
more at Unexplained podcast dot com and reach us online
through Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com.
(28:17):
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