FAQs Ötzi

Frequently asked questions about ÖTZI the Iceman

1 The world 5000 years ago
Sophisticated modern measurement techniques have confirmed that Ötzi lived between 3350 and 3100 BC. Stonehenge had not yet been built in England. The pyramids of Giza would not be constructed for a further 600 years. In Europe the Copper Age was dawning. The country was thinly populated, with forests and marshes dominating the landscape. Human settlements were scattered like islands linked by paths. Around 30 to 60 people lived in a Copper Age village, engaging mainly in farming and animal husbandry.
Europe was at a high stage of civilization but was thinly populated and had no cities.

2 Look – a body!
While descending from an Alpine peak on September 19, 1991, Erika and Helmut Simon from Nuremberg (D) made a macabre discovery: a corpse. Appalled, they reported their discovery at the Similaun Refuge (I). Several unsuccessful recovery attempts were made by the Austrian Alpine Gendarmerie and Mountain Rescue Unit (A). The corpse was  too firmly embedded in the ice. Newspaper reports began appearing. On the fourth day the body was recovered. A forensic pathologist was called to the scene but no archaeologist was present. The body was transported to the valley by helicopter and from there to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Innsbruck (A).
Ötzi was discovered by chance in 1991. He was recovered after four days.

3 Where was Ötzi found?
Ötzi – as the glacier corpse was soon nicknamed – was found at an altitude of 3210 m above sea level in the Ötztal Alps near the Italian-Austrian border in a narrow gulley some 2 to 3 meters deep. Initially it was assumed that the site was in Austria. But soon doubts arose. Not surprisingly: in 1922, when the border was drawn, the area was under a 20 m thick layer of ice. A new survey was undertaken and the result was unexpected – Ötzi belonged to South Tyrol.
New measurement confirm that the site is in South Tyrol (I).

4 Excavations in snow and ice
Five days after Ötzi was discovered an archaeologist was consulted. He was Professor Konrad Spindler of Innsbruck. Professor Spindler ascertained that the body was at least 4000 years old and an archaeological sensation. Ötzi featured in newspapers and magazines around the world. Additional archaeological objects were retrieved from an emergency excavation before the onset of winter. Work was resumed the following summer with steam cleaners, hair driers and fine sieves. More sensational finds were brought to light.
Excavations in the ice uncovered more sensational finds.

5 How did Ötzi’s body remain intact?
The body was preserved thanks to a chain of extraordinary coincidences. Ötzi died high up in the eternally cold glacier region, where he remained lying in a protective gully. The mummification process began. When winter set in, Ötzi was covered by a layer of snow and he remained deep-frozen. Over the course of centuries the glacial ice continued to flow above him, but he remained protected, because the gully ran at right angles to the flow of the glacier.
Preserved in a cool, moist state in a gully.

6 Was Ötzi a grandpa?
It’s impossible to say if Ötzi was a grandfather. But there is no doubt that he was among the oldest members of his community. His age was determined with the help of a sample taken from his upper thigh bone. Because people’s bone tissues are continuously broken down and remodelled, bone structure changes characteristically with a person’s age. Ötzi’s bone tissue looks like that of a 46-year-old man. In the Late Neolithic period that was a ripe old age.
It is conceivable that Ötzi was the oldest member of his village.

7 What did Ötzi look like?
Ötzi is a modern human, a homo sapiens sapiens. Dressed in modern attire, he wouldn’t look out of place in a modern setting. He was about 1.60 m tall (5’ 3”), had size 38 feet and weighed around 50 kg – average statistics in the Copper Age. Today, however, the mummy weighs only 13 kg and has shrunk to 1.54 m. Ötzi had brown eyes. He had shoulder-length dark brown hair which he wore loose. When he smiled, he revealed a large gap between his upper incisors.  
Brown eyes, dark hair, 1.60 m tall, 50 kg in weight.

8 What’s so special about Ötzi?
Until September 1991 archaeologists could only reconstruct the Neolithic period on the basis of relatively scanty remains, i.e. skeletons, burial sites and burial objects. Ötzi, however, lay as he died and is perfectly preserved as a wet mummy complete with clothing and equipment. Wet mummies are very rare and – if they are well preserved – exceedingly valuable. Ötzi’s skin, hair, eyes, tissues, internal organs, even the content of his stomach, are all intact. Ötzi gives us insights into an age we thought had been lost forever.
Ötzi’s tissues, organs, even his clothing and equipment, were preserved.

9 What was Ötzi’s diet like?
Shortly before he died, Ötzi had eaten meat (ibex, deer) and various plants, mainly cereals. Charcoal particles were also found in his intestine. They show that his meal had been cooked on an open fire. In Ötzi’s time cereals were a staple food that was complemented by other plants such as sloes, crab apples, mushrooms, berries and pulses. Other objects from Ötzi’s find included sinews, hides, horns and bones, bearing witness to animal husbandry and hunting at the time. The analyses concerning the content of his stomach have not been yet concluded.
Ötzi still had meat and plant material in his gut.

10 Why is he called Ötzi?
“This dried-out, gruesome-looking corpse must be made more loveable to make a good story,” wrote the Viennese journalist Karl Wendl. In his newspaper report he dubbed the mummy Ötzi, from the Ötztal Alps where he was found. Soon the nickname was known around the world. Officially and in scientific papers the glacier mummy is known as the Iceman.
Ötzi’s name is derived from the Ötztal Alps.

11 How do we know when Ötzi lived?
The period in which Ötzi lived was determined by radiocarbon dating. The atmosphere contains the radioactive carbon isotope C14, which finds its way into animals and people via photosynthesis and the food chain. When we die, the supply of C14 is halted, and the C14 in our bodies undergoes radioactive decay – but only very slowly and at a precise rate. The amount remaining can be measured. For example, half of the original amount remains after 5730 years. Such measurements showed that Ötzi lived between 3350 and 3100 B.C.
Carbon 14 dating shows Ötzi lived over 5000 years ago.

12 Stone Age stress
Ötzi was not in good health when he died. His joints were the worse for wear, his blood vessels were hardened, his teeth were worn and his gut was infested with whipworms. One of his fingernails, found during a later excavation, showed that he suffered from a chronic disease. What’s more, deep furrows across the nail revealed that Ötzi’s immune system has been exposed to severe stress around 8, 13 and 16 weeks before his death. He also had well-healed rib fractures and a broken nose.
Ötzi showed typical signs of aging and had been exposed to severe stress.

13 Stone Age treatment
Ötzi had around 60 tattoos on his body. Unlike modern tattoos, they were not formed by pinpricks but rather by fine cuts. They were located precisely in those areas where Ötzi’s skeleton showed signs of wear, which were presumably causing a great deal of pain: his spine, right knee, calves and ankles. Severing fine neural fibres can help to relieve pain. Ötzi’s tattoos were therefore probably intended for treating pain and not as body ornamentation.
Tattoos for alleviating pain.

14 What do Ötzi’s teeth reveal?
From earliest childhood the enamel of our teeth absorbs and stores strontium, lead and oxygen isotopes. By comparing samples of enamel with soil and water samples, scientists can pinpoint the area in which a person has lived. Ötzi came from South Tyrol. He spent his childhood somewhere in the Eisack Valley, his final years probably somewhere in Vinschgau. His teeth also reveal early signs of dental decay, pareodontitis and considerable wear caused by gritty cereals from stone mills. We know from the pronounced wear of his incisors that Ötzi also used his teeth as a tool.
Ötzi’s teeth provide information on his homeland.

15 Medical examinations
For the first time in the history of medicine it was possible to apply the most modern examination methods to a 5000-year-old mummy. CT scans provided three-dimensional images and made it possible to construct an accurate model of Ötzi’s skull. Deformations caused by the pressure of the ice were visible. For the endoscopic examinations a special titanium instrument was developed which took snapshots of the inside of Ötzi’s body. Samples were taken and sent to laboratories around the world.
Medical examinations provided unique comparative data.

16 Ötzi’s death – a case of homicide?
Ötzi died from an arrow wound. For a long time the arrowhead remained hidden. It was not discovered until 2001 when new x-rays were analysed. The arrow had been shot from behind and from a considerable distance. It penetrated his left shoulder blade and injured a major artery, causing massive bleeding. He died shortly afterwards. Ötzi also had an injury to his temple and brain trauma. It’s unclear whether the arrow caused him to fall to the ground or whether someone struck him down. No trace of the culprit has been found.
Ötzi was fatally wounded by an arrow in his back.

17 Why was Ötzi shot?
Ötzi was evidently fleeing. This is indicated, for example, by his unfinished pieces of equipment. Before he met his death, Ötzi tried to quickly fashion a new bow and several arrows. A deep cut in his right hand reveals that he had been in hand-to-hand combat shortly before his death. The reason for the shot in the back remains unknown. A tribal war? A personal conflict? A raid? None of Ötzi’s equipment, not even his copper-bladed axe, was stolen. Was the fight about a herd of sheep or goats?
Ötzi was the victim of a violent quarrel.

18 When did Ötzi die?
Ötzi’s equipment included two birch-bark vessels, one of which he used to carry embers. He wrapped pieces of charcoal in freshly picked maple leaves, which grow in the region between June and September.
Hop-hornbeam pollen was found in his gut. Pollen grains are ingested indirectly with the food we eat and the air we breathe. The hop-hornbeam flowers in June. Thus Ötzi must have died in early summer.
Pollen and plant parts show that Ötzi died in early summer.

19 Stone Age look
Ötzi was well equipped for survival in the high mountains. A knee-length hide coat with a fashionable striped pattern and a fur cap protected him from the wind and cold. Goat-hide leggings allowed optimum freedom of movement. Ötzi’s footwear was particularly refined: His “inner shoe” was of grass matting that had probably been stuffed with hay for insulation against the cold; the “outer shoe” was made of sturdy deer leather. His clothing was precisely cut, carefully sewn and highly practical.
Ötzi wore practical clothing fashioned from finely sewn fur and leather sections.

20 Perfect equipment
Ötzi carried with him everything he needed to kindle a campfire and fashion weapons. His equipment allowed him to remain away from home for long periods. In his belt pouch he carried tinder for starting fires as well as flint blades and drills. A touch-up tool served to resharpen the blades. He carried a dagger in a finely braided bast scabbard hanging from his belt, where it was always to hand. His quiver contained animal sinews, a bundle of antler tips and 14 arrow shafts, two of which were ready to shoot, and 12 unfinished. The bow was also unfinished.
Ötzi carried a set of equipment complete with tools and repair material.

21 The copper axe – weapon or symbol?
Ötzi’s best item was his copper axe. It is unique in being the only perfectly preserved prehistoric axe in the world. Because of the soft copper cutting edge, it was initially assumed that the axe was an emblem of rank, a status symbol of a warrior or chieftain that only the elite could carry. However, wear patterns on the axe and experiments with a reconstructed axe showed that Ötzi’s axe was capable of felling trees.
Ötzi’s copper-bladed axe: status symbol, weapon or tool?

22 The bow – a deadly weapon
The 1.82 m (6 ft) long yew bow was a good 20 cm (8 in) taller than Ötzi. The bow was not yet finished. It lacked a grip as well as notches into which the end loops of the bowstring would fit. Nor had Ötzi had a chance to smooth and oil the bow before he was killed. Experiments have shown that such a bow can easily kill prey from a distance of 30 to 50 m. From 30 m the arrow passed clean through a deer.
The unfinished yew bow: accurate and absolutely deadly.

23 Why was Ötzi travelling in the high mountains?
People at the time already had a large radius of movement and engaged in trade over long distances. They were familiar with the high mountains, where they searched for copper ore and grazed their goats and sheep in summer. Even today shepherds from Italy’s Schnals Valley drive their sheep across the Austrian border to high-lying Alpine pastures. It is the same pass Ötzi crossed on his final journey. Was he fleeing towards a region he knew well? Was he a nomadic shepherd?
Travelling northward into familiar territory.

24 Where did Ötzi live?
Ötzi lived south of the main Alpine ridge. This is indicated by pollen, teeth and wood analyses as well as his flints, which came from the Lake Garda region, and his axe, whose shape is known from the Remedello culture on the Po plain. Ötzi could have been a member of the Tamins-Carasso-Isera 5 Alpine cultural group, which settled in the Vinschgau Valley. If only Ötzi had also taken along a piece of stoneware or ceramic with him, a clear regional classification would have been possible, as every cultural group had a unique way of shaping, decorating and firing clay.
Was Ötzi a member of the first independent Alpine cultural group?

25 Homeward to Bolzano
For six years Ötzi remained in the care of Innsbruck University. In 1998 he returned to the country from which he had set out on his final journey. Since then his resting place has been the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, which has interactive multimedia stations, events and research throughout the year. Here Ötzi lies in semi-darkness and is closely monitored. Fascinated, amazed but also strangely moved, visitors from every corner of the globe come to behold a witness from their own past.
Ötzi is housed and displayed at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology.

26 High-tech methods for a mummy
For over 5,000 years, Ötzi lay encased in glacial ice, where he was protected from light in a chilled, humid state. These conditions must now be artificially maintained in order to preserve this unique find for science and research. A cooling system unique in the world was developed which also allows the mummy to be displayed to the public. To prevent the mummy from drying out it is sprayed with water, causing a fine ice layer to form on the surface.
Preservation by reproducing conditions in the ice.

27 Expert in woods?
Ötzi’s equipment was made of natural materials such as leather, wood and grass. The variety of the woods used is astonishing. Evidently the most suitable material was selected for each item: tough resin-free yew for the bow and the axe haft, straight-grained wood from the wayfaring tree for arrow shafts, hard ash for the dagger handle, resilient hazel for the bent pack frame. People of the Copper Age had detailed knowledge of materials, much of which has been lost to our modern civilization.
Ötzi used an incredible variety of woods that were specifically chosen for the purpose at hand.

28 Was Ötzi alone?
Probably the oldest deer louse flies ever found came from animal hair samples taken from Ötzi’s burial objects. Deer louse flies are blood-sucking parasites that mainly infest wild animals but occasionally people as well. Despite detailed examinations, no lice were found on Ötzi’s hair. However, two human fleas were found on his clothing and whipworm eggs in his gut.
Several small parasites were found.