The National Museum of Anokhin is located in the center of Gorno-Altaysk. This museum is one of the largest local history museums in Russia, where interesting ethnographic collections are collected. The most valuable exhibit of the museum is the Mummy of Princess Ukok, which was found in 1993 in a mound on the Ukok Plateau.
The Museum of Local Lore of the Altay Mountains was founded in 1920 on the initiative of the artist and ethnographer Grigory Choros-Gurkin, as well as Altay researcher Nikolai Gulyaev. Andrey Anokhin, the third founder of the museum and its first director, played a very important role in the development of the museum. Later the museum was named after him.
The Museum of Gorno-Altaysk holds valuable collections on archeology and ethnography of the Altay region. In the first halls of the National Museum of Gorno-Altaysk, you can see exhibits found during paleontological expeditions: rare fossil organisms, rocks. Several halls are dedicated to the fauna and flora of Altay.
For several centuries, an important road that connected Siberia and China passed through Altay. It passed through the Chuya Valley. In the 1930s, the Chuya Highway was built here, which is recognized as one of the most beautiful roads in Russia and the whole world. Thanks to this road, ethnographic features were formed in Altay, which absorbed the customs of many peoples. Several halls of the museum are dedicated to the traditions of the Altay peoples, clothing, household items, and home decoration.
The funerary culture of the Altay peoples is of great interest. The mounds where the Altayans buried the dead have been recreated here. In the Museum of Gorno-Altaysk, you can see valuable finds made in the Pazyryk Mounds. Unique finds from these mounds, in particular, the world`s oldest pile carpet of the 5th century BC, are stored in the Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg.
Princess Ukok in the Museum of Gorno-Altaysk
A new building for the National Museum of Gorno-Altaysk was built in 1989; however, a significant expansion of its areas was soon required. This is due to a unique find of Novosibirsk archaeologists made in 1993 in a mound on the Ukok Plateau.
Before the excavation began, the mound looked completely ruined. At first, archaeologists found an Iron Age burial, but then they began to dig further and under it in the ice lens of permafrost they found a much earlier burial of the Pazyryk culture of the 5th-4th century BC. This discovery became a sensation in the world of archaeology.
A mummy of a young woman was found in the lower mound. She was called the "Ukok Princess". The burial preserved not only the bones of the skeleton, but also muscle with skin and hair. There are numerous tattoos on the arms of Princess Ukok. Scientists believe that it was the burial of a very noble woman who died at about the age of 25 from breast cancer. 6 horses with harness and other household items were found in the burial chamber.
The indigenous Altayans, who adhere to their beliefs, believe that the Ukok Princess was the keeper of peace and the guardian of the underworld. Archaeologists say that an earthquake occurred during the excavations. After the mummy of Princess Ukok was taken to the Museum of Archeology of Novosibirsk, these earthquakes continued. The Altayans demanded to return her back to Altay.
The Novosibirsk Museum for a long time did not want to transfer the Ukok Princess back, justifying this by the fact that the Altay National Museum does not have the appropriate storage conditions for such a valuable exhibit. As a result, Gazprom in 2008 allocated 750 million rubles for the construction of new museum areas.
In the museum of Gorno-Altaysk, appropriate conditions for temperature and humidity were created. They are exactly the same as those that were in the mound on the Ukok plateau. The request of the Altaians, who did not like that the Ukok Princess was kept as an exhibit on display, was also fulfilled.
Now Princess Ukok is kept in a closed sarcophagus, which is opened several times a month, for no more than 3 hours a day. According to the beliefs and traditions of the indigenous Altayans, it is possible to open the sarcophagus only on the growing moon. The days when the moon wanes, according to their beliefs, are a time of dark forces, so it is forbidden to open the sarcophagus.
