Ötzi the Iceman: Europe's oldest known natural mummy

In 1991 - high up in the Oztal Alps - hikers found the mummified body of a fugitive man who lost his life between 3400 and 3100 BC.

This man - Ötzi the Iceman - continues to spark the interest of archaeologists 5,300 years after his death due to the mysterious circumstances around how and why he died, his amazingly preserved body, his tattoos, and even the contents of his stomach. 

“Ötzi” is clearly a nickname for the Iceman, as his true name is well and truly buried in time. Instead, he was named after the Oztal Alps, where he was found.

Due to where he was discovered, it was presumed that he had died from exposure to the freezing elements while navigating the rugged terrain. However, in 2001, ten years after he was unveiled in a melting glacier, an X-ray revealed that Ötzi’s death was far less peaceful than initially thought.

As Europe’s most ancient natural mummy, Ötzi the Iceman offers unparalleled information about life in the Copper Age.

What do we know about Ötzi from his body?

Scientists have spent many years analyzing as many minute details as possible of Ötzi’s diminutive form - from his many tattoos to his tooth decay, sheepskin jacket and goatskin leggings, and even the parasites that resided in his gut.

It was easily determined that Ötzi had brown hair, was in his mid-forties at his time of death, had a gap between his front teeth, a size 7.5 foot, and a flint arrowhead rooted deep in his shoulder - indicating that he had been hunted and bled to death as a result.

Yet one feature of Ötzi’s body left scientists baffled - his stomach couldn’t be located where it was supposed to be.

In fact, it took them 20 years to eventually find it - for unexplained reasons, it had shifted up underneath his ribs, where the lungs would usually be found.

To the scientist’s excitement, Ötzi’s stomach still contained the remnants of his last meal - dried ibex, deer, and einkorn wheat were relatively undigested, indicating that Ötzi was killed approximately one hour after he had eaten. 

Analysis of Ötzi’s hair provided information about his potential profession - high levels of copper and arsenic indicated that he might have been involved in some form of copper smelting.

This was further compounded by the high-quality copper ax which was found alongside his body. The ax was made from an artfully crafted yew with a right-angled crook that led to the blade.

The blade was almost pure copper and was forged through a combined casting, polishing, and sharpening method. At the time of Ötzi’s death, such a possession would have been considered highly valuable and would likely have signified a certain status for its owner. 

However, despite possession of the ax, a detailed examination of the deterioration of Ötzi’s tibia, femur, and pelvis, indicated the possibility that Ötzi was possibly a shepherd. He clearly did a lot of strenuous lower body work, so he may have spent a lot of time navigating uneven and high terrain. Ötzi was not in good health at the time of his death, as his fingernails revealed a repetitive sickness, the last bout of which occurred roughly two weeks before his death.

Making sense of Ötzi’s tattoos

This has proven to be a bit of a conundrum to scientists. Much of this is due to his body being 5,300 years old - so his skin has seen a lot of wear and tear! Many of his tattoos were invisible to the naked eye because they were applied by repeatedly piercing the top layer of skin and rubbing in charcoal; dark ink isn’t immediately identifiable on aged, brown skin. This made it difficult to account for exactly how many tattoos he had, but recently, 61 have been accounted for.

Ötzi’s tattoos have been organized into 19 groups by their patterns of horizontal or vertical lines.

Because of their location on the joints (and the fact that Ötzi had arthritis), it is thought that the tattoos may have served a pain-relieving purpose. However, more recently, a chest tattoo for which no obvious ailments were found indicates that perhaps there was a more decorative reason for the inking.

This theory could be refuted by the possibility that Ötzi likely suffered from undiagnosed ailments in this area.

What caused Ötzi’s death?

As well as experiencing probable stomach pains due to the contents of his stomach, Ötzi died under clear duress. He had a severely injured right hand as it had been sliced to the bone between the thumb and forefinger, and his body harbored approximately 75 different forms of bryophytes - a type of moss and liverwort found at different altitudes in the Alps.

This suggests that Ötzi spent his last days tumultuously climbing up and down the alps in a desperate attempt to flee from whoever was chasing him. Furthermore, CT scans revealed that three or four of his ribs had been cracked. This potentially occurred after his death however, as he may have been crushed by the ice that kept him hidden for thousands of years.

Ötzi was likely not killed for the sake of robbery; his valuable ax was still with his body thousands of years later. Instead, the injury on Ötzi’s hand may be the most telling factor regarding his murder.

From the amount of healing seen on the wound, it was determined to be approximately one to two days old at the time of his death. Furthermore, it was an apparent defensive injury. Therefore, it was hypothesized that Ötzi might have been involved in a violent argument - one of which he was likely the winner of, considering that there were no other significant injuries on his body. He was shot with an arrow from approximately 100 feet and seemingly for revenge. Although, this theory will likely never be confirmed. 

Ötzi's genetics show great affinity to modern Sardinia and it is thought if you have ancestors stem from the region between Sardinia and the Alps, there is a chance you could be related to Ötzi. Would you like to find out if your DNA could be connected to Ötzi the Iceman? Take our ancient DNA analysis to find it out today!