Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 42 (4) 2014

Annotation:  Test Study of Organic and Inorganic Residues on the Stone Tools from the Mesolithic Layer in the Dvo Carinated Pieces in Paleolithic Assemblages of Central Asia Ceramics of the Mariinskoye Culture from the Lower Amur Chronology of the Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze Age in the Urals Ethnic and Cultural Mosaic in Western Baraba During the Late Bronze to Iron Age Transition (14th–8th Imitation/Reconstruction of an Early Medieval Dwelling in the Western Amur Basin Inscriptions in Uyghur Writing and Runic Characters from the Urkosh Area (Central Altai) High Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging of a Mummy from AkAlakha-3 Mound 1, Ukok Plateau, Gorny Altai: Paleolandscape Reconstruction of the Abrau Peninsula Littoral (Krasnodar Territory): Based on Sedime An Archaeological Landscape in the Dzhazator Valley (Altai Mountains): Surface Monuments and Petrogl Metal Plaques from the Fortifi ed Settlement Old Iskarra: Attribution and Subjects Ethnological Approach to Siberian Zoomorphs: A Search for Meaning and Implications for the Upper Pa Genealogies of the Siberian Bukharans: The Shikhovs Early Iron Age Surgical Technologies: Ante-Mortem Trepanation Among the Early Nomads of Gorny Altai   

High Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging of a Mummy from AkAlakha-3 Mound 1, Ukok Plateau, Gorny Altai: Findings and Interpretations

A.Y. Letyagin, A.A.Savelov, and N.V. Polosmak.

The availability of science-based methods has marked a new stage in the study of Pazyryk mummies. This article outlines the results of a magnetic resonance imaging examination of a mummy found in 1993 at Ak-Alakha-3 mound 1, the Ukok Plateau, Gorny Altai—so far the only undisturbed burial of a high-ranking Pazyryk woman discovered in permafrost. The MRI examination revealed several diseases that may have caused the woman’s death, and yielded certain facts relevant to her lifestyle. These fi ndings may have implications for the woman’s special status as a person “chosen by spirits”, possibly a priestess.

Keywords: Magnetic resonance imaging, Pazyryk culture, Ukok Plateau, mummy, paleopathology.