New Research Rewrites How He Died And How He Was Preserved 30 Years After The Discovery Of Ötzi, The “Iceman” Mummy

No mummy has undergone more thorough examination since Ötzi the Iceman was found in the Italian Alps thirty years ago. In fact, the 5,000-year-old man is largely recognized as having invented the field of glacial archaeology. His blood type, eye color, and physical ailments (dentures, intestinal parasites, Lyme disease), as well as the fact that his last meal consisted of einkorn wheat, deer, and ibex, are all known to scientists. Research into the Iceman is still ongoing.

The circumstances leading to Ötzi discovery by hikers in the Tisenjoch pass gully in 1991 are rewritten by a recent paper in the Holocene. The individual was allegedly killed by an arrow and immediately covered by glacial ice, according to earlier study. The idea was that his existence was accidental and his discovery was highly uncommon. According to the new research, Tzi wasn’t killed in the gully but rather was transported there by ice that melted and froze over a long period of time.

“Our study indicates that Ötzi was not preserved by a series of lucky circumstances, but by normal natural processes on ice sites,” Lars Pilø, lead author on the paper, told Artnet News. “This suggests that there may be a greater chance for the preservation of more ice mummies than previously believed.”It was necessary to show that the guy actually passed away in spring or early summer rather than autumn, as had previously been assumed, in order to challenge the widely accepted Ötzi story. The study cites earlier studies that demonstrate the presence of hop hornbeam pollen in Ötzi’s intestines and recently fallen maple leaves at the burial location, both of which suggest he died in May or June. This chronology indicates that Ötzi was covered in snow when he died, and that either a significant melting event or a succession of lesser melting incidents moved his body. He eventually made his way to the gully where he was surrounded by a field of immobile ice.

“As my knowledge of how ice sites work increased, it became clear that there was something wrong with the original theory,” Pilø said. “Some preconditions need to be fulfilled for mummies to preserve in the ice. The person needs to die on ice that does not move, and the body cannot be recovered by relatives or others.”The established story is further called into question by Ötzi’s artifacts, which were originally thought to have been harmed in battle. The Holocene study contends that instead, the weight of the snow and ice caused them to crack and break.

Much of the research from the past three decades has focused Ötzi’s find spot and its immediate surrounding; now, Pilø suggests, it’s time to conduct an archaeological survey of the pass itself. An investigation into the remaining ice could bring “interesting results,” Pilø said.

Ötzi is displayed at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy, where an average of 300,000 people visit each year.