Because the ice held.

Because the archaeologist found the tomb.

Because the tattoo was still blue when the ice melted away.

A Moment Preserved

The last thing the archaeologists did before removing the Ice Maiden’s coffin from the permafrost was document everything as it was — the position of the body, the arrangement of the grave goods, the orientation of the horses, the placement of the food on the table.

In that documentation — photographs, drawings, written descriptions — they preserved a record of how the Ice Maiden’s community had arranged the last things around her.