Advances in technology have allowed archaeologists to take the study of ancient artifacts to a whole new level. And today there is a mummy of an ancient European, which is studied in such detail as no other. Since the 5,300-year-old European mummy was found in the Italian Alps in 1991, scientists have learned a lot about the weather, genetics, migration and human life at that time. This review contains the most interesting facts about Ötzi.
1. Alpine burial ground
A 2010 study suggested that the border of the Alps, where Oetzi's body was found, was a burial ground, not a murder site. The study claims that some strange facts would make sense if he died elsewhere, and then brought the corpse to a mountain pass and ritually buried. For example, the pollen found inside the mummy was of the spring-blooming species, and the pollen in the ice around the corpse was of the late-summer bloom.
Perhaps Oetzi was buried
2. Unique climatic record
Ötzi provided unique weather information. The mummified man lay in the ice for five millennia and during this time has accumulated valuable information about the little-known "warm period". By studying the age of the corpse and its condition, as well as the ice around it, scientists were able to track the movements of the glaciers. About 6,400 years ago (more than 1,000 years before Oetzi died), the area was warm and fertile, as evidenced by soil samples.
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Mummy Ötzi - a unique climatic record
At the time of Ötzi's assassination, there was a marked change in climate. His body was buried in ice very unexpectedly, which means a rapid change in temperature. The cold contributed to the growth of giant glaciers that lasted for 5,000 years. It wasn't until 1970 that these majestic formations began to recede and have continued to melt in recent years. It was through this that the body was discovered. But the warm era, which lasted for several centuries, was not known until Ötzi was found.
3. Stability of micro-RNA
In 2017, Ötzi and a mummified soldier from the First World War were subjected to innovative genetic research. Scientists wanted to test whether newly found biomarkers, which show information about the health or living conditions of a person, remained in ancient tissues. Ribonucleic acid molecules, or micro-RNAs, tend to remain very stable.
Mummy Ötzi will help in the study of micro-RNA
With difficulty, but a team of scientists managed to take samples from Ötzi's skin and stomach. Surprisingly, both the soldier and Ötzi had (and were stable) micro-RNAs. The ability of micro-RNAs to survive for thousands of years has been proven, now researchers are studying the ability of these molecules.
4. Healing tattoos
It turns out that Ötzi was constantly trying to heal for something during his lifetime. Over the course of 20 years, various researchers have compiled a whole list of diseases that an ancient man suffered from during his lifetime. For example (and this is not all), these were Lyme disease, gallstones, gum disease, atherosclerosis and trichocephalosis.
Oetzi's healing tattoos
Researchers have previously theorized about a link between these diseases and tattoos grouped in 19 locations throughout the body. More specifically, they wondered if this was a prehistoric form of acupuncture. In 2015, a new scan revealed previously unknown tattoos, bringing the total to 61.
The tattoos were not images of anything, but looked like crosses and lines made by rubbing charcoal into incisions in the skin. Interestingly, about 80 percent of the tattoos are located along the acupuncture lines that are known to modern specialists. If acupuncture was used during Ötzi's life, then it is 2000 years older than the earliest records of this type of treatment in China.
5. Copper ax
When a valuable copper ax was found among Ötzi's belongings, he threw many mysteries to the scientists. Previously, it was assumed that the metal for it was mined in the Alpine region, but tests in 2016 proved that the ore originates from southern Tuscany in Italy. The results were surprising and unexpected, but the question immediately arose where this ax came from Ötzi.
Otzi's Copper Ax
The elevated levels of arsenic and copper in Ötzi's hair have led to speculation that he may have forged the weapon himself, inhaling the chemicals during the manufacturing process. However, no contamination with these substances was found in other parts of the body, that is, he was neither a blacksmith nor a coppersmith.
6. The Bigger Man
When Ötzi's remains were found, no one could determine who he was. The climbers who found the mummy assumed he was an unhappy traveler, and the first explorers of the body claimed that he was a priest. In the course of the research, a completely different picture emerged. Oetzi looked more like a modern soldier than a farmer. He was armed with a flint dagger, yew bow, arrows and a brass ax.
Jacket and trousers Ötzi made of three layers of leather
The yew bow was a high-tech weapon for its time and only appeared in large quantities in the English army thousands of years later. Oetzi also had a backpack with devices for making fire, canned food and a first-aid kit with a lot of various herbs. The well-armed man was also well dressed: a jacket and trousers of three layers of leather, padded with felt, a bear's hat, a grass coat and leather shoes. This is, to put it mildly, different from the cavemen in loincloths.
7. Warrior
It was clearly not easy for Otzi's killer. Traces of blood that were found on the mummy's weapons, tools, and clothing were DNA tested in 2003. It turned out that this is human blood, belonging to four people, besides Oetzi. The blood of two people was found on the arrow, that is, Oetzi shot one, removed the arrow from his body and killed the other with it. The blood of a third person was found on Ötzi's knife, and traces of the blood of a fourth were found on the jacket.
Perhaps Oetzi was a warrior
8.60 km in 2 days
In the last days of his life, Ötzi traveled a long way through difficult terrain. Despite his physical ailments, he was healthy. Researchers tracked his path thanks to … moss. Two types of moss that grow in humid places were found in his stomach (probably got there with water), and goat meat was wrapped in another type of moss, which was lying in a backpack. Oetzi descended from the mountains into the Alpine lowlands, collected peat moss, and then went back to the mountains. In 2 days he covered almost 60 kilometers.
Perhaps Oetzi covered 60 km in 2 days
9. Assassin
Almost every expert who has participated in Ötzi's research claims that the story of his murder will never be fully known. However, there is enough evidence to suggest that after Ötzi killed 4 people, he rested and felt safe. And he was shot from a bow and then finished off.
Oetzi may have been a killer
10. Haplogroup K
Copper Age genes have clarified a lot for scientists, but perhaps most interestingly, Ötzi was probably sterile. Today, no one will ever know if he had a family, but researchers discovered indicators of infertility in his genes in the mid-2000s.
Perhaps Oetzi was sterile
It is also noteworthy that Ötzi was the first person ever discovered to belong to a previously unknown subcategory of haplogroup K. This means that Ötzi's mother's family most likely came from the south of the Alps or the Ötztal valley in Tyrol.
