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| Ötzi the Iceman |
Occasionally, a chance discovery
brings us literally face to face with our ancient past. Bog bodies, which are
usually well preserved, are one example of such finds. Perhaps, the best-known
discovery of a mummified body in Europe is ‘Ötzi’ the Iceman.
About 5,300 years ago, Ötzi was shot with an arrow, struck on the head, and
left to die near a mountain pass high in the Alps. In 1991, hikers near the
Italian-Austrian border discovered his body in a glacier. Ötzi is the oldest mummy in Europe. What can he tell
us about our Neolithic ancestors: how they lived, the tools and weapons they
used, and the clothing they wore?
Where he came from
The research confirmed that
modern Sardinians are Ötzi's closest relatives. However, he most closely
resembled prehistoric farmers found in Bulgaria and Sweden. Ötzi was a native
of Central Europe and not a first-generation émigré from Sardinia, according to
new research.
The new findings support the
theory that farmers, and not just the technology of farming, spread during
prehistoric times from the Middle East all the way to Finland.
Where he grew up
Ötzi wasn't far from home when he
died. Scientists concluded that he didn't live in the Alps as such, but spent
most of his life in Isack Valley or the lower Puster Valley, in the
northernmost part of what is now Italy. He probably spent the last 10 years of
his life in an area south and west of his previous home, not far from where he
died.
Contact between people who lived
south and north of the Alps at this time was thought to have been limited.
However, people who travelled in the Alps had a very deep knowledge of the
landscape and its conditions due to their experience with hunting, herding, and
exploring natural resources in these areas. It is thought likely that Ötzi
traded furs or domestic animals.
His equipment
The Neolithic herdsman carried
several pieces of equipment when he died, including numerous wooden tools that
were used to make clothing or utensils. Among the equipment he carried was an
axe of almost pure copper thought to have been a status symbol, indicating that
he ranked high in his pastoralist culture. Its wooden handle and leather straps
were still preserved. Ötzi was also carrying a bow and arrow, which he had
leaned against a tree before he died.
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| Copper Axe found with Ötzi's Body |
Researchers have now traced the
source of the metal in Ötzi’s axe to southern Tuscany. It had been thought that
people living around the Alps at that time got their copper locally or
from the Balkans.
Another copper axe
Archaeologists have found a
copper blade in Switzerland resembling the axe Ötzi was carrying when he died.
It was made from copper that also came from Tuscany. The axe was discovered in
Zug-Riedmatt, one of the many pile-dwelling villages around the Alps famous for
their prehistoric wooden houses built on stilts on lakeshores and other
wetlands. This new axe was between 5,300 and 5,100 years old and missing its
wooden handle.
Clothing
Most of Ötzi's clothing was badly
disintegrated, but researchers did manage to retrieve parts of his sheep and
cow leather shoes, goatskin leggings, bear fur cap, and animal skin
loincloth. The iceman also carried a grass mat or cape with him, either to
sleep on or shield him from the rain.
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| Some of the Clothing Worn by Ötzi the Iceman |
Ötzi wore garments made from the
skins of different animals. His leather overcoat was made from at
least four different individual animals from two species of sheep and
goat while his lighter coat was made of sheep. His leather shoes were stuffed
with grass, with shoelaces made from wild cow or auroch (an extinct
species of large wild cattle that inhabited Europe, Asia, and North Africa. It
is the ancestor of domestic cattle). His
furry hat was made from brown bear while his quiver was made from a roe
deer.
His health
Scientists found that the Iceman
had tooth decay, ate an agricultural diet, and had Lyme disease. The oldest red
blood cells ever identified have been found in his body. Ötzi suffered from
heart disease and joint pain before he died. Analysis of his skeleton
revealed he had bad knees and was lactose intolerant.
His relatives
Scientists sequenced Ötzi's entire genome and compared it with those from
hundreds of modern-day Europeans, as well as the genomes of a Stone Age
hunter-gatherer found in Sweden, a farmer from Sweden, a 7,000-year-old
hunter-gatherer iceman found in Iberia, and an Iron Age man found in
Bulgaria. Researchers have established from genetic analysis that Ötzi has
living relatives in the region.
Ötzi and his present-day
relatives share a common ancestor, who may have lived 10,000 to 12,000 years
ago. His mother's family appears to have originated in the Alps and did not
spread from there. Researchers concluded
that Ӧtzi's maternal line appears to have died out as the genetic lineage does
not exist in modern populations alive today.
Probable cause of death
Scientists estimate that Ötzi was
45 years of age when he met his violent death in the mountains. His last meal
included red deer meat with herb bread. The probable cause of his death was an
arrow wound to the shoulder that sliced an artery.
The fact that he had an
undigested meal in his stomach suggests the Iceman was ambushed, but scientists
couldn't agree whether he was bashed over the head or killed by an arrow that
nicked an artery in his shoulder. In a 2012 study, scientists analysed
the mummy's red blood cells and concluded that Ötzi bled to
death after the arrow wound.
Ötzi today
Ötzi's perfectly preserved body
is stored in a specially designed cold storage chamber at the South Tyrol
Museum of Archaeology in Italy at a constant temperature of -6°C (21°F).
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