It was done for the Ice Maiden because she warranted it — because her community considered the investment appropriate to who she was.

The scale of the funeral is one of the strongest pieces of evidence we have about her status.

Whatever she was — elite woman, ritual specialist, political leader, some combination — she was someone for whom months of elaborate ceremony, the sacrifice of six horses, and the construction of a specific burial environment were all appropriate expressions of respect and mourning.

The Question Of Pain And What It Means

The evidence of chronic illness in the Ice Maiden’s remains — the osteomyelitis, the possible cancer — raises a question about her life that is both intensely human and impossible to fully answer: how did she live with pain?