The physical fact of her existence — her bones, her tissues, her skin — outlasted everything that was consciously intended to be remembered.

This is not unique to the Ice Maiden.

The bodies of the past — preserved by various accidents of environment, from the Egyptian desert to the European bogs to the Siberian permafrost — are among the most immediate and personal connections to ancient individuals that exist.

They are not texts, not objects, not buildings.

They are the actual physical remains of actual people.

The Ice Maiden’s body, preserved by ice, is a physical object that exists in our time.