Talk:Siberian Ice Maiden

Medical cannabis use
Now We Know What Killed The Ancient 'Ice Princess,' And Why She Had That Marijuana. By Dominique Mosbergen. October 16, 2014. Huffington Post. From the article:

"A team of Russian scientists using MRI scans determined that the ice princess was likely suffering from breast cancer. ... The scans also showed that the princess had the bone infection osteomyelitis, Letyagin added. In addition, he said, the scans found evidence of injuries consistent with a fall -- perhaps from a horse. To cope with the pain she must have been experiencing, the princess could have resorted to cannabis -- a container of the stuff having been found alongside the mummy in her burial chamber."

Someone may want to incorporate some of the info into the article. I don't have the time. --Timeshifter (talk) 05:17, 18 October 2014 (UTC)

Hey, I've dug into it a bit and the mere fact of the body being buried with cannabis is highly suspect to me. In one of the original TV interview's regarding the finding cited in Wikipedia's own 'Pazyryk Burials' cited in this very article the original researcher, Polomask claims it was not cannabis at all but coriander seeds. Interview transcription:  That is the only word I could find on cannabis being found in the grave from the original researchers, the Siberian Times article from 2014 that is widely cited seems to be where the 'fact' reappears and all the footnote trails I've tracked lead back to it even though it is an uncited article that doesn't seem to have any proof or new studies done intended to disprove what Polomask said in that 1998 interview. If anyone has a new study or new research I'm missing I'd much appreciate it but all I can find right now is other articles discussing the MRI scans proving her health issues where the cannabis is mentioned offhandedly-all of which lead back to that singular uncited Siberian Times article. I really want some substantial proof or a paper that cites to something Polomask/the original team said that contradicts their claim in that NOVA interview of it being coriander seeds because right now it feels like the result of a long game of telephone based on an offhanded, disproven comment getting stated as if it's fact and restated without checking since then. Especially because a Wikipedia article cited in this one seems to disprove it, I'd want to check on it further because it seems messy at the moment. Again if I'm missing anything, please tell.

Edit: I think I've got to the bottom of it, I'll wait to hear back from anyone else but then I want to just go and edit it. There is no proof and no statement implying the body was buried with cannabis, a few weeks before the Siberian Times article and the Huffington post article ( linked above ) were posted Polomask and the original team released two separate, very detailed, very helpful articles in a Russian archeology magazine helpfully available in English online. https://scfh.ru/papers/put-k-nebesnym-pastbishcham/ https://scfh.ru/papers/zhizn-i-smert-altayskoy-printsessy/ You will notice that no mention of being buried with cannabis or it being found at the gravesite are present. In fact the article written by Dr. Polomask reestablishes the burial with coriander seeds. These are the original articles in which all the discussion of the woman's medical state originate from and are the original study with the MRI scan and the breast cancer findings. Cannabis is mentioned but exclusively as a theory regarding what she might have done to deal with the pain, not based in fact or in the nature of the burial. All this discussion of cannabis in general originates way back to a 2004 article Polomask wrote regarding the subject https://scfh.ru/papers/zhizn-i-smert-altayskoy-printsessy/ which is, again, a general statement on the culture rather than about the 'Ice Maiden' so, mystery solved, the cannabis use was always a theory only tangentially related to the 'Ice Maiden' and not rooted in the burial, I'll formally edit it in a few days if no one else has.


 * More articles discussing cannabis use. Many images.
 * Mummy's MRI scan reveals 2,500-year-old Siberian princess died from acute breast cancer - and smoked cannabis to dull the pain. By Will Stewart. 14 October 2014. Daily Mail Online.
 * Iconic 2,500 year old Siberian princess 'died from breast cancer', reveals MRI scan. By Anna Liesowska. 14 October 2014. Siberian Times. "Preserved by ice, the 25 year old ancient woman covered in tattoos used cannabis to cope with her ravaging illness."
 * --Timeshifter (talk) 07:14, 19 October 2014 (UTC)


 * Fyi, both of these links are from sources deemed unreliable (the first deprecated) by WP - see WP:RSPS Mattdaviesfsic (talk) 00:22, 1 January 2024 (UTC)