It does not establish that Pazyryk women and men occupied the same social positions.

It does establish that the category of “significant social actor” in Pazyryk society included women — that a woman could be buried in a way that required six sacrificed horses and a coffin specially sized for a 90-centimeter headdress.

The Ice Maiden’s burial is also a historical argument about the sophistication of nomadic cultures.

The Chinese silk, the elaborate textile work, the goldsmithing, the carved wooden furniture, the complex tattoos — all of this challenges the stereotype of nomads as culturally simple or materially impoverished.

The Pazyryk were artistically sophisticated, materially rich (at least at the elite level), and connected to trade networks spanning thousands of kilometers.