As in modern times, tattooing in ancient Siberia was an art that required formal training and artistic sensibilities, researchers say.

Archaeologists have used cutting edge techniques to reveal new information about the intricate tattoos of a woman that lived in Siberia during the Iron Age.

Interestingly, the study’s authors noted that the mummy’s right forearm tattoos were more technically proficient and detailed than those on the left. According to the team, this implies that either different Pazyryk tattoo artists did the work or it was done by at least a single artist at different stages of proficiency.

New imaging technology has allowed scientists to decipher the tattoos of an Iron Age mummy—and study them like never before.

Bodies preserved by the deep cold of the Altai mountains offer archaeologists a rare insight into ancient tattoo art, and modern artists are impressed by the skill some of the work displays. Tattooing is so widespread across cultures that were isolated from each other that it almost certainly has very ancient roots.

A 2500-year-old Siberian “ice mummy” found in the Altai mountains revealed intricate tattoos. The research published in the Antiquity journal collaborated with tattoo artists

Caspari and his colleagues turned to cutting-edge infrared photography to image in three dimensions the tattoos on the arms and hands of their unnamed Pazyryk woman, who was about 50 years old when she died. Then, they reconstructed the designs, and investigated how the tattoos were made.

Archaeologists have used new high-resolution digital imaging to study tattoos on a 2,300-year-old “ice mummy” from Siberia’s Pazyryk culture. The technology allowed them to move beyond old drawings and study the craftsmanship behind the ancient body art for the first time.

The ornate tattoos of a 2,500-year-old Siberian “ice mummy” have finally been revealed using advanced imaging technology, according to a report. High-resolution images derived using infrared technology show the long-dead 50-year-old woman was inked-up across her body with tribal animal designs,

The study specifically examined the female mummy found in tomb 5, and a combination of floodlights, digital cameras and near-infrared imaging showed her detailed tattoos for the very first time. "The tattoos on the body of the female individual from Pazyryk tomb 5 broadly cluster into four regions: left hand,