The infection appears to have been a chronic condition rather than an acute illness, suggesting that the Ice Maiden may have lived with significant pain for an extended period before her death.

There is also evidence of trauma to the spine that may indicate injury — possibly from a fall, possibly from some other cause.

And some researchers have suggested evidence of cancer — specifically, findings consistent with primary bone cancer.

The cancer interpretation is the most dramatic and the most contested of the health findings.

If correct, it would mean that the Ice Maiden died from a malignant condition — a form of cancer — rather than from any external cause.

It would mean that the elaborate burial preparation, the embalming, the months of post-mortem ceremony, all occurred in the context of a community processing the loss of someone who died young from a devastating illness.