Natalia Polosmak

Natalia Viktorovna Polosmak (Russian: Наталья Викторовна Полосьмак; born 12 September 1956) is a Russian archaeologist specialising in the study of early Metal Age Eurasian nomads, especially those known as the Pazyryk Culture, an ancient people, often glossed as "Scythian," who lived in the Altay Mountains in Siberian Russia. She is best known for her discovery and analysis of the Ice Maiden mummy which is now the focus of an ethnic political debate between Russian scientists and the indigenous Altay people.

In 1993, Polosmak was conducting archaeological reconnaissance of the high and barren Ukok Plateau when she discovered a spectacular archaeological find; a female mummy frozen in permafrost which she associated with the Pazyryk on the basis of intact clothing remaining on the well-preserved corpse. The Pazyryk were an Iron Age people who lived in the Altay Mountains and on the Ukok Plateau. Many tomb mounds (kurgans) have been found in the area and have been associated with the Pazyryk culture; a group that closely resembled that of the legendary Scythian people to the west. The term kurgan is in general usage to describe the barrow burials found in the area. Excavations of this site yielded fascinating archaeological artifacts.

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