Pazyryk (Russie) : Tattooed owners of the world's oldest carpets get health check after 2,200 years

PART.2

Male tattoos: feline predator on the right shoulder, images of birds on his hands and ungulates on the leg. Pictures: Lyudmila Barkova

The other is the world earliest pile-woven carpet, some 183 by 200 centimetres in size. It is seen as having Iranian influence. Radiocarbon testing indicates it was  woven in the 5th century BC.

Another precious find was a disassembled wooden chariot with large wheels, presumably used in the funeral rite. 

The tattoos - with the images shown here - depict on the man's left shoulder a feline predator, probably a tiger, and on the right shoulder - a horse. On the forearm of the right hand is an Asiatic wild ass or horse and some predator with a striped tail. These figures cannot be seen in full because of the skin folds.

On his hands are images of birds, including a grouse of capercaillie. On the man's legs, below the knee, are tattooed groups of ungulates.

On woman's left forearm is a complicated - and unusual for this culture - scene with two tigers and a snow leopard attacking deer and moose. Pictures: Lyudmila Barkova

The images depict only real animals, seen as unusual for Pazyryk remains, when often fantastical creatures have been found in tattoos.

The woman has no tattoos on her shoulders, but many on her forearms. On her left arm is a predatory bird, killing a  deer or moose. On her hand is a cock: she, too, only had real animals depicted on her skin.

On her left forearm is a complicated - and unusual for this culture - scene with two tigers and a snow leopard attacking deer and moose. Some experts believe the images indicate a Chinese influence.