Scientists Learn Something New About Ötzi the Ancient Iceman Mummy

Europe's oldest mummy looked different than previously assumed

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Back in 1991, hikers in Italy stumbled upon a mummy in the snow near the border of Austria. It turned out that the person died around 5,300 years before. He became known as Ötzi the Iceman after the valley he was discovered in, and fascination with Ötzi spread wide and far as he captured people’s imaginations. Especially after it was revealed that Ötzi didn’t freeze to death as previously assumed but died violently.

Ötzi’s remains have also spurred the scientific field and gifted researchers an exceptional look into ancient Europeans. Every few years, it seems, scientists discover something new about Ötzi, from his diet and clothing to ancestry. Now, experts are learning about his genetics, and new research suggests Ötzi wasn’t fair-skinned or blue-eyed as he’s been portrayed. In fact, he was quite the opposite.

The Discovery

After 5,300 years, Ötzi was discovered by hikers in the Italian Ötztal Alps in 1991. Analysis suggests he likely lived between 3350 and 3105 B.C.E. and was 45 years old when he died. He also had an assortment of rare treasures that lasted the test of time. Not only did he have a full belly and tattoos, but he possessed tools and was still wearing skin leggings, a hyde coat, a fur hat, and hay-stuffed shoes.

At first, experts assumed Ötzi froze to death due to the frigid environment he was found in, and the area’s remoteness stirred speculations about what he was doing there, to begin with. But then a 2001 X-ray revealed a fatally shot arrowhead in Ötzi’s shoulder, along with a head injury, which may have occurred at the same time. But a defensive wound on Ötzi’s right hand suggests he didn’t go down too easily.

Today, Ötzi’s remains are held in a custom-made cold chamber at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy, where thousands of people still visit him annually. Albert Zink, a mummy researcher at Eurac Research also in Bolzano, Italy, summarizes:

“The whole story of the Iceman is intriguing, including the mystery of his violent death … and the question of why he was up there in the high mountains when he was killed.”

Zink, too, is captivated by Ötzi and has conducted an impressive amount of research into learning more about him. One was when Zink and an international team of researchers made headlines in 2012 after sequencing Ötzi’s genetics for the first time.

Otzi Replica, Image Source: Wikicommons