Natalia Polosmak

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 Altay people living there.

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.

[5][7] While Polosmak and her team were excavating the site and defrosting the artifacts with water from a nearby lake heated with blow torches, rumors circulated among the indigenous Ukok people that disturbing the dead would have dire consequences.

[8] From the beginning, there was controversy over the ownership of the Ice Maiden and other archaeological finds which were found just within a disputed strip of land between Russia and China and were moved by Polosmak and Russian officials to Novosibirsk and Moscow for proper, scientific research under controlled laboratory conditions.

[9] The indigenous residents of this area, known as the Altay Republic, demanded the return of the burial artifacts from their Russian locations, claiming the ancient remains should never have been disturbed and that they belong at the site where they were found.

She believes that the Ice Maiden belongs to the people of Altay and that Russian forensic findings are suspect and an attempt to erase local heritage.