Discovered in 1993 on the frozen Ukok Plateau, this Pazyryk woman from 500 BCE was laid to rest beneath layers of permafrost that kept her body, clothes, and tattoos perfectly intact. Her skin still bears intricate ink — mythic deer and griffins curling across her arm — symbols of protection and passage to the afterlife. She’s a time capsule of early steppe culture, reminding us that tattooing has long been more than art; it was belief, identity, and immortality beneath the skin. #tattoo #histor