Since the context and introduction for Otzi are applicable to Devochka as well, let’s delve into the captivating story of Devochka and explore the process behind her virtual reconstruction.
Let’s take a closer look!
Who was 'Devochka'?
In 1993, a remarkable discovery unfolded in the icy Altai Mountains of Siberia. Led by archaeologist Natalia Polosmak, a team stumbled upon an ancient burial mound (kurgan), hiding a fascinating secret. It was the resting place of the Siberian Ice Maiden, also known as the UKOK Princess or Devochka (meaning “girl” in Russian). The burial chamber, preserved for over two thousand years beneath layers of ice and freezing temperatures, held the mummified remains of a young woman adorned with precious treasures. This extraordinary find captivated the world, sparking a quest to unlock the mysteries concealed within this frozen time capsule.The discovery of this individual, whether referred to as Devochka or the Siberian Ice Maiden, provided invaluable insights into the burial practices, customs, and ancient cultures that thrived in the Altai region during the same period as the Pazyryk and Scythian civilizations.
Extensive scientific studies were conducted to unravel the mysteries surrounding her. Radiocarbon dating confirmed that she lived during the 5th century BCE, aligning with the timeframe of the Pazyryk culture (a branch of the Scythians). DNA analysis of the mummy revealed that she belonged to a population with East Asian and European genetic influences, supporting the notion of cultural and genetic interactions in the region. Stable isotope analysis of her teeth and hair provided insights into her diet and mobility, indicating a predominantly terrestrial-based diet and suggesting a semi-nomadic lifestyle. Detailed examinations of her well-preserved tattoos unveiled intricate designs and symbols with possible spiritual or ritual significance. Additionally, advanced imaging techniques, such as computed tomography (CT) scans, revealed the presence of a well-preserved breast cancer tumor in her body. This makes the Siberian Ice Maiden one of the earliest known cases of cancer in human history, providing valuable insights into the prevalence and impact of cancer on ancient populations. These scientific studies shed light on various aspects of her life, such as her ancestry, lifestyle, cultural practices, health conditions, and even her untimely demise (contributed by a head injury after a fall), contributing significantly to our understanding of the Pazyryk culture and the ancient peoples of the Altai region.
The findings in the burial mound unveiled another significant aspect: the utilization of medicinal herbs, particularly cannabis, which is believed to have a direct association with the Ice Maiden’s severe illness, potentially serving as a means of coping or even seeking healing.
Goals
The virtual reconstruction project had three primary objectives. Firstly, to recreate the character with meticulous attention to her tattoos and clothing, ensuring an accurate representation. Secondly, to reconstruct the burial mound, chamber, and select significant items discovered within it. And lastly, to recreate a medicinal or smoking tent, a type of structure found in other tombs of the same people in the surrounding area, although not specifically within her burial chamber. By accomplishing these objectives, the project aimed to provide a comprehensive visualization of the Ice Maiden’s world, encompassing her appearance, burial environment, and the cultural context of the Pazyryk people.
Devochka's character creation
Based on the research, she had 168 cm in height, thin body structure (even thinner from the illness) and was about 28-30 years old when she died. The last months of her life were spent in bed probably due to the fall she had suffered. She had fair skin (Caucasian type). Her head was shaved and she wore an impressive horse hair wig 90 cm tall. Similar to Otzi’s reconstruction, I did not focus on facial reconstruction as that is entirely another job.
My focus was to find a good pose for her body so I could show her tattoos (almost the entire left hand and the thumb from the right hand). I used several references for the face and body (see below) and I decided to place her ‘presenting’ an infusion tent, ready to go and undergo a special treatment with medicinal herbs and cannabis inside. I built the body with Character Creator 4, changed the pose in Blender, fix the textures in Substance Painter and the next step was to paint the tattoos.
At this stage I also designed the hair, or should I say the wig. I chose to depict her both ways with and without the wig to emphasize this little known and peculiar aspect. So I had to design two hair objects for her head: a simple one with short hair (as if just a bit grown after a shave) and the wig with all the accessories.
For her finger nails I found a text saying that Herodotus mentions that Scythian women painted their faces with a type of pigment derived from a local plant, and they also stained their nails with a reddish dye. So I painted her nails red :).
Devochka's tattoos
I won’t delve into the depths of interpretation of the outstanding design of the the Ukok princess tattoos. Usually tattoos can have different meanings based on their placement on the body, their design and purpose. In this case researchers have access only to the information given by the placement and design on her skin the rest of the data had to be deduced. For example, it is believed that based on the motifs represented on her skin combined with the inventory found in the burial chamber she might had not only a leading position within the community but also could be connected to the spiritual world, possibly having a role of a shaman, as a storyteller, traditional healer or soothsayer. Her tattooing style and motifs are not unique, as several other burial grounds ‘inhabitants’ from that area shared similar design. It is clear that these tattoos demonstrate the artistic and symbolic traditions of this culture, reflecting the cultural identity of the Pazyryk people.
Luckily for me, given the complex design and high artistic level of those who made the tattoos, I found enough resources about them so I wouldn’t have to draw them by myself. I used several images (most of them scanned from books or other hand drawings or X-rays) and I could vectorize and then create high resolution brushes for Substance Painter. This work implied copying the design of a tattoo in Photoshop, then carefully edit any errors in comparison with photos and other detailed resources. These brushes had to be perfect vertical views of the said design. Once finished I imported them in Substance painter and easily apply them on any type of surface. To increase the realism of the tattoo, I changed the properties of the painted layer to be identical with the skin details for that area (normal map, roughness map etc.). From the resources I found the tattoos might have had a bluish colour. Studies showed that in most cases the pigment composition contained carbonized vegetal matter or soot.
A very good resource on the tattoos of the Pazyryk people can be found here, starting with Svetalana Pankova’s article ‘Identifications of Iron Age Tattoos from the Altai-Sayan Mountains in Russia‘ on page 66.
Clothing
Unlike the scene of Otzi, where I could not put any clothes on him because of his tattoos being on every limb, with Devochka things were different. One of the many important aspects of her discovery were actually here clothes that were preserved in very good condition.
It was the first time when garments from this culture were ever found and it completely changed the perception of the Pazyryk women apparel. She was found in the log chopped coffin placed on a felt cover in a sleeping position on her right side. She was dressed in a long wide woollen skirt (144 cm long, 90 cm at the top, 112.5 cm at the base) . The skirt was made of three horizontal strips each with a different colour: the top one was crimson, the middle slightly pinkish-yellowish and the third one a rich Bordeaux colour. All these pieces were manually coloured. This skirt had a woollen braided belt which could be placed under the breasts or on the waist to change the length of the skirt. Above the skirt there was a knee length light shirt with a round neck and long sleeves. This type of shirt was found on more occasions and had something surprising in common: they were made of silk in a very similar fashion (identical actually) with the costumes found in the oasis burial grounds in the now Xinjiang province of China. On her feet she had white felt high boots-stockings. Another piece of clothing was also found inside the burial chamber: a thick jacket with decoration.
In my scene I decided to represent only the skirt and the shirt for time-related reasons but also because adding the jacket would hide the shirt. I chose to depict her without shoes because in bare feet would link her more with the ground emphasizing a bit more her spiritual role. At least in my head. Because the tattoos on her left hand covered most of the arm, I decided to cut the left sleeve completely and present her like that. The clothing was designed in Marvelous Designer, adjusted and simplified with Blender and textured with Substance Painter.
Perhaps unnoticeable unless direct comparion, the images above depicts my initial design for the shirt, which went way below the knees. As you will see later, the length was well adjusted in the final scene.
The infusion tent
Although this tent was not discovered in the same burial ground as Devochka, I chose to create the scene with it as it would help tell her story.
The model I used as reference was found in kurgan 2 (burial ground 2) together with a bronze brazier where hot stones where placed to have hemp seeds and herbs thrown upon. The fumes where used by the Scythians for purification rituals concluding the process of burial. The tent was made up of a framework from 6 wooden poles covered with felt. The tent was quite short.
Herodotus describes their purification rituals:
They make a booth by fixing in the ground three wooden sticks inclined towards one another and stretching around them woollen felt which they arrange so as to fit as close as possible: inside the booth a dish is placed on the ground into which they put a number of red-hot stones and then add some hemp seed.
The kurgan
Burial ground, or the kurgan, was the third main element/scene that I wanted to represent for Devochka. I selectively reconstructed certain elements while leaving out others. In the hole near the burial chamber there were also buried six horses with full garments beautifully decorated. These horses were not included in the reconstruction. Above the burial chamber there was another body, a male body, with fewer items with him, that was buried 20 years later than Devochka. This guy also was not included in the reconstruction.
What I focused on was the mound made of the pile of stones with the round stone formation around it, the hole with the burial chamber, the log coffin and the most relevant objects within: two ceramic vases, two wooden tables for offerings, a wooden mug and a beautiful iron dagger. I used archaeological illustrations of the dig to model the surface terrain and the hole. As everything was very well documented, it was not hard to place the objects around. The selected objects to be modelled all had scaled drawings so, again, that helped a lot.
Below are a few static renders for social media (you can find them on Instagram or Facebook) of the objects I modelled for the burial chamber. All these objects, as in the case of Otzi reconstruction, have been saved as Blender assets for possible later use.
Animations and Final editing
The deliverables requested for this project were two edited short videoclips, one for each character. In these clips I wanted to show the context, the character with his/her tattoos and a nice and simple presentation of the inventory.
For Devochka I prepared 12 render animations. The kurgan objects were split into four animations: one for each of the ceramic vases and the dagger and one for a setup of the offering wooden tables and mug. The kurgan itself had three animations: the exterior mound, burial chamber overview and an inner chamber flythrough. For the character scene I prepared different animations. Some for the character itself and its tattoos and others for the infusion tent and the unique mirror that was found with her in the coffin.
For the visual style, mood and backgrounds I kept a similar approach to Otzi, specially for the objects. For the tent animation I tried to use a smoke simulation but the time frame at disposal did not help. The render time again sky-rocketed for each frame.
All the animations were rendered at 1920×1080 pixels with 30 frames per second. For Devochka were rendered 12 animations summing 110 seconds and for my workstation it required around 104 hours just for rendering the frames (unintentional same render time with Otzi).
Video editing
I used Davinci Resolve to edit the final video. I used the frame sequence as they were rendered from Blender and here I could set up a nice background, covers, and titles. All graphics and texts were designed in Adobe Photoshop. Actually, this was the first time I used Davinci instead of my old ShotCut. I really enjoyed editing these videos and mixing them on Junkyard’s masterful sound design (or soundtrack as I like to call it).
join us!
So mark your calendars for the end of May, and join us as we unravel the mysteries of tattoos throughout history. This promises to be an unforgettable event that will challenge your perceptions and ignite your passion for the past. Let’s uncover the hidden stories etched on the skin and celebrate the artistry and cultural significance of tattoos in our collective history.
If you reached this far, thank you and please enjoy the (rather short) BTS and WIP gallery below.
Cheers!
BTS & WIP GALLERY
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[…] up, we have Devochka, an enigmatic young woman who lived during the 5th century BCE in what is now known as Siberia. […]
[…] One year later I can see how much I have grown through my projects like Ötzi the Iceman and Devochka the Ice Maiden and others I will speak about at the year’s end. Unfortunately not so many personal projects […]