In 1991, a mummy was discovered in the Tyrolean Alps. ancient man. Otzi (Otzi), as the “Ice Man” was called, was at an altitude of 3200 meters on the Similaun glacier in the Ötztal valley, his age was estimated at 5300 years, and scientists still continue to study the mummy.

The hand of the "ice man" on sterile foil.

Dutch artists Adrie and Alphonse Kennis used 3D scans of the Iceman's skeleton to recreate a full-size replica. Initially, scientists believed that Otzi's eyes were blue, but recent DNA studies have shown that the color of the eyes was brown.

Ice man shoes on glass model.

After the mummy was taken to the lab, the researchers raised the temperature to 17.8 degrees Celsius to thaw it. Melt water was examined for the presence of bacteria, thanks to which the ancient mummy was so well preserved.

Knife and "sheath" of the "ice man".

After an autopsy that lasted nine hours, the mummy was returned to its original temperature, -6.1 degrees Celsius, and placed in a glass sarcophagus. The research took place at the Archaeological Museum of South Tyrol in Bolzano, Italy.

An ax with a copper blade testifies that in his tribe the "ice man" occupied high position. After examining the stomach, it was found that Ötzi had eaten eight hours before his death. Remains of bran, roots, fruit, and two types of muscle tissue corresponding to chamois and deer meat were found.

Two arrows used for hunting and self-defense. At the time of his death, Ötzi was approximately 165 cm tall and weighed 50 kg.

A maple leaf found among the ice man's equipment. Scientists have determined that the leaf was plucked from the tree in late spring.

Shoes made of grass, deer skin and bear skin. This shoe is considered one of the oldest ever discovered by scientists.

The mummy is in the Archaeological Museum of South Tyrol in Bolzano, Italy. The room is maintained at a temperature of 17.8 degrees Celsius and a humidity of 98.5% - to simulate the ice sheet that protected the mummy for five thousand years.

According to scientists, the "ice man" at the time of death was a little over forty years old.

The development of technology has 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 a 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 life of people at that time. This review contains the most Interesting Facts about Etzi.

1. Alpine burial ground

A 2010 study suggested that the border of the Alps where Ötzi's body was found is a burial ground and not a murder site. The study claims that some of the strange facts would have made sense if he had died elsewhere and then brought the corpse to a mountain pass and ritually buried. For example, the pollen found inside the mummy belonged to a spring-blooming species, while the pollen in the ice around the corpse belonged to a late-summer-blooming species.

2. Unique climate record

Ötzi provided unique weather information. The mummified man lay in the ice for five thousand years and during this time 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, the scientists were able to trace the movements of the glaciers. Around 6,400 years ago (more than 1,000 years before Ötzi died), conditions in the area were warm and fertile, as confirmed by soil samples.

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, which continued for 5,000 years. Only in 1970 did these majestic formations begin to recede and in last years keep melting. This is how the body was found. But the warm age, which lasted for several centuries, was not known until Ötzi was found.

3. Micro-RNA stability

In 2017, Ötzi and a mummified World War I soldier were subjected to an innovative genetic research. The scientists wanted to test whether recently found biomarkers remained in ancient tissues that reveal information about a person's health or living conditions. Ribonucleic acid molecules, or microRNAs, tend to remain very stable.

With difficulty, but the team of scientists managed to take samples from the skin and stomach of Ötzi. Surprisingly, both the soldier and Ötzi had (and were stable) micro-RNAs. The ability of miRNAs to survive for thousands of years has been proven, and now researchers are studying the abilities of these molecules.

4. Medical tattoos

It turns out that Ötzi was constantly trying to be treated for something during his lifetime. Over the course of 20 years, various researchers compiled a list of diseases that ancient people suffered from during their lifetime. For example (and this is not all), these were Lyme disease, gallstones, gum disease, atherosclerosis and trichuriasis.

Researchers have previously theorized about a link between these diseases and tattoos, clustered in 19 locations throughout the body. More specifically, they wondered if this was a prehistoric form of acupuncture. In 2015, a new scan revealed hitherto unknown tattoos, bringing the total to 61.

The tattoos weren't pictures of anything, but looked like crosses and lines made by rubbing charcoal into incisions in the skin. Interestingly, about 80 percent of tattoos are located along acupuncture lines, which are known modern specialists. If acupuncture was practiced during Ötzi's lifetime, then it is 2,000 years older than the earliest records of this type of treatment in China.

5. Copper ax

When a valuable copper ax was found among the things of Ötzi, he threw many riddles to scientists. Previously it was thought that the metal for it was mined in the Alpine region, but tests in 2016 proved that the ore comes from southern Tuscany in Italy. The results were surprising and unexpected, but the question immediately arose of where this ax came from Ötzi.

Elevated Levels arsenic and copper in Ötzi's hair has led to speculation that he may have forged weapons himself by inhaling chemical substances during the production 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. Thrifty person

When Ötzi's remains were found, no one could determine who he was. The climbers who found the mummy decided that he was an unfortunate traveler, and the first researchers of the body stated that he was a priest. In the course of the study, a completely different picture emerged. Ötzi looked more like a modern soldier than a farmer. He was armed with a flint dagger, a yew bow, arrows, and a copper axe.

The yew bow was a high-tech weapon for its time and did not appear in large quantities in the English army until thousands of years later. Ötzi also had a backpack with fire-making tools, canned food, and a first-aid kit with mass various herbs. The well-armed man was also beautifully dressed: a jacket and trousers made of three layers of leather, lined with felt, a bear's hat, a grass cloak and leather shoes. This is, to say the least, different from cavemen in loincloths.

7. Warrior

It was clearly not easy for the killer Ötzi. Traces of blood, which was found on the mummy's weapons, tools and clothing, were tested for DNA in 2003. It turned out to be human blood belonging to four people besides Ötzi. The blood of two people was found on the arrow, i.e. Ötzi 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 a fourth's blood were found on the jacket.

8. 60 km in 2 days

IN last daysÖtzi has done his life big way over difficult terrain. Despite his physical ailments, he was healthy. The researchers tracked his path thanks to ... moss. Two types of moss that grow in humid places were found in his stomach (probably ingested with water), and goat meat was wrapped in another type of moss, which was in a backpack. Ötzi descended from the mountains to the Alpine lowlands, collected peat moss, and then went back to the mountains. In 2 days he walked almost 60 kilometers.

9. Killer

Almost every expert who participated in Ötzi's research claims that the story of his assassination will never be fully known. However, there is enough evidence to suggest that after Ötzi killed 4 people, he rested and felt safe. And they shot him with a bow, after which they finished him off.

10. Haplogroup K

The genes of a Copper Age resident cleared up a lot for scientists, but perhaps the most interesting thing was that Ötzi was probably infertile. Today, no one will know if he had a family, but researchers found indicators of infertility in his genes in the mid-2000s.

It is also notable 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.

Of great interest to scientists are also - 10 ancient bodies found in peat bogs.

When a corpse is found at the crime scene, forensic experts examine the contents of his pockets, stomach, take a blood test, that is, they collect the so-called "material evidence". But if the crime was completely many thousands of years ago, what then? And nothing! Pretty much the same thing happens. That's just interested parties in the investigation are scientists.

The discovery of the "ice man"

And it so happened that in 1991, on September 19, on the border between Austria and Italy, in the Tyrolean Alps, after the ice melted on the Similaun glacier at an altitude of 10,500 feet, a group of climbers discovered the body of an ancient man. Later it turned out that he lived about 5300 years ago. The "ice man" wore goat-skin shoes and a cape made of grass. Nearby were found an ax made of copper, and a quiver filled with arrows. Although a lot of time has passed since the death of the unfortunate man, the mummy is well preserved. She essentially became interesting find not only for historians, but also for ... criminologists!

"Tyrolean ice man", or Ancient Tyrolean named Ötzi

Most of all, scientists were surprised by the excellent condition of the body. Due to the fact that Ötzi has been in the ice all this time, he looks better than Egyptian mummies, which he is much older than. For a long time they decided where it is best to study it. As a result, I ended up in Germany, where they conducted a detailed study of it.

It turned out that he was small in height, one hundred and sixty-five centimeters, weighed about fifty kilograms during his lifetime, was about forty-five years old, and had excellent health. But in 2011, due to the complete decoding of his genome, it turned out that he was predisposed to atherosclerosis and Lyme disease.

Who is he? Cattleman or sorcerer?

On his skin were made fifty strange, inflicted in an unusual way. With a knife, cuts were made on the skin, into which charcoal was later poured. There are several versions of who Ötzi was. Some think that he is a cattle breeder, others consider him a warrior, others consider him a hunter, and still others consider him a coppersmith.

Some believed that, perhaps, during his lifetime, Ötzi was a sorcerer. Then, thanks to the study of the remains of the ice man, it was possible to replenish a large number of gaps in information about the life of ancient people. All items that were with him at the time of his death were studied in great detail - clothes, tools, weapons.

The primitive Tyrolean wore a loincloth supported by a belt, as well as a shirt made from thin strips of leather. A hat made of fur and a sleeveless cape made of woven straw served as protection from the cold.

"They knew how to live beautifully even in the Stone Age!"

"Ice Man"was perfectly adapted to survive in a harsh climate. In a pocket made of dressed calfskin lay a bone awl and a steel made of tinder and a fragment of sulfur pyrite, as well as flint products: a small scraper, an awl and a sharp blade resembling a razor, as well as a plate made of deer antler.In the first-aid kit, mushrooms were found that have the properties of modern antibiotics.

He also had a vessel with coals covered with maple leaves. That is, he had everything necessary for life, and in in a certain sense even life "with conveniences"!

Copper ax and flint dagger...

Ötzi appeared to be in imminent danger. By the way, his ax made of copper caused a lot of guesswork. It is known that this metal was first smelted in Anatolia between the 7th and 6th millennium BC. IN Western Europe copper products appeared only in the III millennium BC. e. Metal knife blades have been found in Italy, as well as in southern France and Spain.

And the weapon found with him proves that copper in the Alpine mountains was known much earlier than it was supposed. That is, the metal spread both in the Mediterranean countries and within the continent at the same time. But from metal products, Ötzi had only an ax. Apparently, by the time of his death, easily accessible ore deposits were devastated and the metal in the area of ​​​​his habitat was in short supply.

When studying Ötzi, it turned out that among the "material evidence" there are objects that, by no means, could be together, since they belonged to different eras. The clothes look quite appropriate: shoes made of leather, insulated with grass, a bandage made of skins of chamois, mountain goat and deer; shirt, belt, fur hat, gaiters, straw cloak, grass mesh.

But the weapon causes a lot of controversy. For example, a scraper is an ancient Paleolithic, a flint knife with a wooden handle and arrows belong to the Middle Paleolithic and Upper Paleolithic (12 thousand years ago).

Frozen or killed?

A lot of controversy in scientific circles was caused by the question of the death of the ice man. The hypothesis that he simply froze in the mountains did not last long. The first to challenge the traditional version of death from the cold were chief keeper Archaeological Museum in Bolzano Eduard Vigl and climber Aloy Pirpamer, who found the mummy in the mountains. It turned out that Pirpamer found a knife in the hand of the mummy, which then fell out of it when the body was removed from the ice. Wigle later found a deep wound Ötzi received in hand-to-hand combat.

Forensic specialists took up the work, since the "murder of the Stone Age" was evident, and it was they who determined that Ötzi had a damaged spine, ribs and nose were broken, right hand crippled, there were wounds and bruises all over her body.

Ötzi is a victim of a crime

On this moment scholars think that Ötzi was the victim of an ancient crime. According to experts, the "Tyrolean Iceman" died in a fight that lasted about two days. In addition, on his body and on objects found next to him, there was the blood of several people at once. In 2001, an Italian researcher found that Ötzi had an arrowhead stuck in his shoulder.

Genetic forensics in the service of forensics

In 2008, the complete DNA sequence of cellular mitochondria was discovered and it was found that in humans modern look she is absent. This means that the people to which Ötzi belonged no longer exists today.

And here's what his haplogroup says...

From the research, we can conclude that the ancestors and relatives of Ötzi were pastoralists. Probably, it was they who, by immigrating, contributed to the expansion Agriculture outside the Alps. Ötzi had a Y-chromosome, which was passed from father to son and belonged to the G haplogroup, which has its roots in the Middle East, from where, in fact, agriculture itself came to Europe.

So the "crime of the Stone Age" helped scientists a lot.

Now Ötzi is in the Museum of Archeology in Bolzano, as part of a permanent composition. The mummy is kept in a sterile glass box, in which the appropriate humidity is constantly maintained.

Otzi's riddle

On September 19, 1991, on the border of Italy and Austria, in the Tyrolean Alps, after an extreme ice melt on the Similaun glacier at an altitude of 10,500 feet, a group of climbers found the body of an ancient man who lived about 5,300 years ago. The amazingly preserved mummy is still fraught with many mysteries, although enough time has passed since the discovery. Dozens of scientists have studied the remains, but prehistoric man continues to hide secrets from modern researchers.

In honor of the village of Otztal, in the vicinity of which the climbers found the mummy, the deceased wanderer was lovingly christened Otzi. Now he is also known "by the names" Erzi, the Similaun man and the Tyrolean ice man.

Scientists were very interested in Otzi: he was too well preserved thanks to his icy grave - Egyptian mummies, whose age is much younger, look much worse. No wonder that Italy and Austria began to fight fiercely for the right to possess a unique archaeological find. As a result, the mummy was transferred to ... Germany, where its detailed study was first carried out.

Anthropologists heated the body to a temperature of 2 degrees Celsius and took tissue samples for further study without damaging the structure and condition of the mummy. Swiss scientists managed to analyze the dental tissue of an unusual "patient", thanks to which the whole world learned what kind of diet our ancestors had in those days. Using the latest developments in biology, it is possible to find out from the dental tissue what a person ate in childhood, since it is at this stage that enamel is formed. Remains of bran, muscle tissue, which indicates that ancient man ate goat meat, were extracted from the rectum. The high content of copper and lead hints that he dealt with the production of copper. According to the researchers, the Similaunian man could well have belonged to a small tribe, one of the main occupations of which was agriculture.

Otzi's height is 159 cm, the estimated age is 46 years. Strange tattoos were found on the back and body of the mummy. Studying them, some scientists agreed that Otzi could well be a priest or a sorcerer. This version is supported by the one found in dead person an amulet, as well as the discovery of a prehistoric sanctuary in the area by the Austrian ethnographer Hans Haid.

The Society of Ancient Astronauts (AAS, Ancient Astronauts Society) dared to assert Otzi's connection with aliens from outer space, although, in my opinion, such a connection in this case is far-fetched. Nevertheless, something mystical is still present in this mysterious figure of antiquity.

The main problem that archaeologists faced when studying Otzi was the presence of objects with him that should not have been together in any way, because they belonged to different eras. It would seem that everything is normal at first glance: leather shoes with grass for insulation; loincloth made of chamois, mountain goat and deer skins; leather shirt, belt, fur hat, gaiters, straw cape, grass net. With clothes, everything seems to be logical and correct, but with a combination of guns ...

For example, a scraper, arrowheads, a flint knife with a wooden handle belong to three periods of the Paleolithic (Ancient Paleolithic (200 million years ago), Middle Acheulean (200 thousand years ago), Upper Paleolithic (~12 thousand years ago)). In addition, Otzi had an ax and a yew bow! The ax is very reminiscent of products dating back to the period 4500-5000 years ago, and the bow seems to be taken from the Middle Ages!

As already mentioned, Otzi himself was "estimated" at 5300 years. Probably, this assessment would have been completely different if this marvelous set of artifacts had not appeared before scientists. If they found one thing, then, most likely, the age of the Similaunian man would be equated to the age of the tool found near him.

And so it remains only to guess, scrolling in my head fantastic versions about aliens or a time machine. However, why not? But what if Otzi is a man from the future, who decided to ride like a tourist into the past, who collected a collection of exhibits different eras? Still, it is unlikely, although science fiction writers will readily support such a version.

In the meantime, science fiction writers are thinking, the Tyrolean man has put modern geochronology into a dead end, from which it cannot yet get out.

Initially, scientists believed that Otzi simply froze in the mountains, but now the official verdict sounds different. The first to challenge the traditional version of death from cold were the curator of the Bolzano Archaeological Museum Eduard Vigl and the climber Alois Pirpamer, who found the mummy in the mountains. As it turned out, Pirpamer found a knife in the clutched hand of the Tyrolean mummy, which fell out when the body was removed from the ice and transported. Examining the palm of the right hand of an ancient man, Vigle confirmed the words of the climber, and also discovered a deep wound that could have been received in hand-to-hand combat and possibly caused death.

Forensics, led by Peter Venezis, took up the case. As a result, it was found out that Otzi received multiple injuries: his spine was damaged, his ribs and nose were broken, his toe was frostbitten, his right hand was crippled, and there were wounds and bruises all over his body.

As scientists now say, Otzi is the victim of an ancient crime. Surprisingly, the mystery of his death can be considered almost solved! Experts believe that the Tyrolean Man died in a fight that lasted two days. Traces of blood found on Otzi's body and objects found nearby four people. The blood of two people was found on a quiver with arrows, another blood was the blood of Otzi himself, and a cape found near the body was saturated with the blood of a fourth person. Criminologists agreed that Otzi was rescuing a wounded comrade and carrying him on his shoulder.

In 2001, an Italian researcher found that Otzi had an arrowhead stuck in his shoulder. Apparently, the shot was fired from behind, and the tip went in so deep that Otzi did not have the skill and strength to pull it out. To understand the details of the small battle, scientists are examining the place where the body of the Similaun Man was found: they are looking for signs of a struggle, new evidence, including the body of a comrade.

Perhaps 5,300 years ago, a minor clash between two warring communities took place in that place, and Otzi's body was lost in the mountains, not discovered by the surviving tribesmen.

Mystics of our time, having adopted the version of tragic fate ancient warrior, they talk about bad energy mummies. Their words are confirmed by statistics, which, of course, may turn out to be just a sad coincidence.

"On account" Otzi already six people. The first victim was Rainer Henn, a medical examiner who was part of a team that examined a prehistoric corpse found on a glacier. Shortly after he spoke publicly about the Similaunian Man at a press conference, Henn died in a car accident. The second was Kurt Fritz, who participated in the operation to extract the mummy: he was covered in the mountains by an avalanche, and only he was injured from the entire chain of climbers. Journalist Rainer Holz, who covered the discovery of Otzi in the press, became the third - he died suddenly from a brain tumor. The fourth victim is the discoverer of the mummy, Helmut Simon. After the discovery of Otzi, the climber began to suffer from a split personality, considering the Tyrolean ice man a part of himself. After unsuccessful attempts to get a large sum money from the province of Bolzano, where Simon found the mummy, Helmut began to organize independent ascents to the place of discovery. In one of these ascents, the climber died under a mountain collapse. The fifth dead was Dieter Warnecke, a climber who participated in the search for Simon. He died immediately after the funeral of a colleague from a heart attack.

The latest victim so far is anthropologist Conrad Spindler. His troubles began from the moment he began to study Otzi in earnest. The Austrian scientist devoted years of his life to analyzing its origin, Spindler wrote the book "Frozen Fritz", which restores the history of life and death of a person who has spent almost 5300 years in the ice.

Some talk about a kind of "conspiracy" of ancient mummies, recalling mysterious story with excavations of the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. However, whether there is a curse of mummies, we probably never know.

Despite all the rumors associated with Otzi, hundreds of scientists are tirelessly studying the Alpine mummy and gradually getting new interesting results. How many more mysteries does the Tyrolean ice man hide in itself? Quite a lot, in my opinion. And everything needs to be unraveled. We do not want to take. It remains to ask higher powers bit of luck...

The “Ice Man”, Ötzi or Otzi, is an ice mummy of an ancient man, discovered in 1991 in the Tyrolean Alps on the Similaun glacier in the Ötztal valley at an altitude of 3,200 meters. The age of the mummy, determined by radiocarbon dating, is approximately 5300 years. Currently, scientists continue to study the mummy.

1. The hand of the "ice man", lying on a sterile foil.

2. Dutch artists Adrie and Alphonse Kennis used 3-D scans of the Iceman's skeleton to recreate a full-size replica. Scientists first believed that Otzi's eyes were blue, but recent DNA studies have confirmed that the eyes were brown.

3. Shoes of the "ice man" on a glass model.

4. After the mummy was taken to the lab, the researchers raised the temperature to 64 degrees Fahrenheit to thaw the mummy. The melt water was examined for the presence of bacteria, which contributed to the fact that the ancient mummy was so well preserved.

5. After an autopsy that lasted nine hours, the mummy was returned to its original temperature of 21 degrees Fahrenheit and placed in a glass sarcophagus. The research took place at the Museum of Archeology of South Tyrol in Bolzano, Italy.

6. The red arrow points to the place where Ötzi's body was found by two German tourists from Nuremberg in 1991 at an altitude of 3,200 meters. Under Ötzi, stone tools and artifacts from the Neolithic era were found.

7. In the area of ​​​​the knee on the leg of the mummy, a tattoo in the shape of a cross is visible. scientists suggest that these are traces of a kind of ritual aimed at treating arthritis.

8. Reconstruction of the position of the mummy and equipment found with the "ice man". Bundles of two types of tinder fungus were found in the mummy's legs. One of them is a birch tinder fungus, the second is a real tinder fungus. In addition, at the foot of the mummy was a knife and shoes. In addition, a copper axe, two arrows and a cord made of bast wood were found.

9. Dr. Edward Egarter Wigl and colleagues using an endoscope to study the arrowhead, planted in the shoulder of the mummy. The arrow severed an artery, causing massive blood loss.

10. X-ray of the shoulder of the "ice man", the arrowhead is marked with a red arrow.

11. Scientists spent nine hours studying the mummy, trying to find out the details of the life and death of the "ice man".

12. Fossilized contents of the stomach of the "ice man". Doctors joke that he had a good appetite.

13. Neurosurgeons suggest that shortly before his death, the “ice man” received a head injury.

14. Two types of tinder fungi. Presumably, they were used for medical purposes, including to stop bleeding.

15. Knife and "sheath" of the "ice man".

16. An ax with a copper blade, which indicates that the “ice man” occupied a high position in his tribe.

In 1991, on the Similaun Glacier in the Tyrolean Alps, two German tourists discovered the perfectly preserved body of a man who lived at least 5,300 years ago. The body was so well preserved that at first they even thought that it was one of our contemporaries.

The discovery caused a real sensation and in scientific world, and in the press. Journalists in total came up with more than 500 names for the found mummy, but, in the end, on July 2, 1997, the South Tyrolean government adopted official name- Ice Man.

(Total 23 photos)

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1. The hand of the Iceman. The mummy was found near the Ötztal valley, which is why the "Ice Man" is often called Ötzi. The name was coined by the Viennese reporter Karl Wendl.

2. Studies have shown that Ötzi's age at the time of his death was about 50 years old. Considering that he lived during the Neolithic, this is a very respectable age. Dutch artists Adrie and Alphonse Kennis, using computer technology, tried to recreate appearanceÖtzi. The brown color of Ötzi's eyes is confirmed by special studies of his DNA.

3. Remains of shoes worn by Ötzi. The shoes are put on a foot model made of glass.

4. In the process of defrosting the mummy, its temperature was gradually raised to room temperature. The melt water was all collected and sent for bacteriological analysis.

5. The autopsy of Ötzi's body lasted almost 9 hours, then the mummy was frozen again, lowering the temperature to its original temperature (21 degrees Fahrenheit or -6.1 degrees Celsius). The study was carried out at the Museum of Archeology of South Tyrol in Bolzano, Italy.

6. The red arrow marks the place where the body of Ötzi was found frozen into the ice. At first, no one could even imagine the importance of the find, so the body was removed using ordinary ice axes and a jackhammer, while damaging Ötzi's thigh.

7. Ötzi's tattoo in the knee area. In total, 57 tattoos were counted on his body, consisting of crosses, lines and dots. Ötzi's tattoos were applied by rubbing coal dust into incisions made in the skin. The tattoos coincide quite accurately with the acupuncture points, so it has been suggested that, in fact, Ötzi's tattoos are not decoration, but traces of treatment.

8. This image recreates the locations of Ötzi's body and equipment at the time it was discovered. From the equipment with him, Ötzi had a copper axe, a stone knife with a wooden handle, a quiver with arrows, a large, almost two-meter bow, and two baskets. He also had two types of tinder fungus with him: one was used to make fire, and the other as a medicine.

9. Dr. Edward Egarter Wigl, along with colleagues, examine the arrowhead stuck in Ötzi's shoulder. Someone more than five thousand years ago shot Ötzi in the back, the arrow stuck so deep into the shoulder that it was not possible to get the tip of Ötzi.

10. The red arrow on the x-ray marks the location of the arrowhead.

11. The autopsy of Ötzi's body lasted 9 hours.

13. Neurosurgeons suggested that shortly before his death, Ötzi received a head injury.

14. Two types of tinder fungus used by Ötzi. Birch tinder, most likely, was used as a medicine.

15. Stone knife with ash handle and scabbard.

16. Copper ax with a yew handle. The presence of such an ax suggests that Ötzi had a fairly high social status.

17. Arrows. In Ötzi's quiver, only 2 arrows were found ready for use, and another 12 arrow blanks.21. Before returning the mummy back to the glass sarcophagus made for it, Dr. Eduard Egarter Wigl treats it with a special protective solution.

22. Mummy Ötzi, on display at the South Tyrol Museum of Archeology in Bolzano, Italy. Inside the sarcophagus, the conditions of the glacier are recreated, which kept the mummy for more than five thousand years.

23. Scientists determined that the “ice man” was about 50 years old, he had brown eyes and wavy dark hair. Ötzi had excellent teeth without the slightest trace of caries, which he actively used not only for chewing food, but also for processing wood, skin and tendons.