The wool skirt she wore — striped in red and white — is a simpler object than the great felt hangings, but it too reflects careful craft: the wool was spun, dyed, and woven with the specific decorative intent that produced the striped pattern.

The dyes used — vegetable dyes capable of producing these specific colors — required knowledge of local plant materials and dyeing chemistry.

Even the most “ordinary” objects in a Pazyryk burial reflect a level of specialized knowledge and skill that contradicts any image of Iron Age nomads as rough or culturally simple.

The Mirror And Its Meanings

The bronze mirror found in the Ice Maiden’s burial — in its carved wooden case — is a small object with a large interpretive literature.

Mirrors in the ancient world served the obvious practical function of reflection, but they were also objects with significant symbolic and ritual associations in many cultures.