Yesterday Eurac (The Institute for mummies and the iceman) completed their project to make available thousands of photos of
Otzi the Iceman. The site has gone a online and contains high-resolution images.
It's a beautifully designed site and is
found here.
This project represents a significant scientific contribution to the study and dissemination of knowledge on the oldest wet and natural mummy in
the world. The current preservation conditions of the mummy prevent the wider public from getting close to it. This project, however, will allow an
in-depth virtual contact without compromising the sensitive preservation conditions. The objective is to provide an opportunity for the public to
discover and study a cultural heritage, unique in the world. In order to ensure the greatest possible access a modern website, which does not require
any type of installation or subscription fee, has been set up.
Source
The thinking behind the site is to ensure the body of Otzi can be preserved whilst still allowing an almost forensic study.
Otzi
It's speculated that he was a warrior due to the tattoos and weapons that were found on his body.
In September 1991 two hikers made a sensational discovery - a frozen body high in the mountains, near the border between Austria and Italy. It
turned out to be 5,300 years old, the oldest frozen mummy ever found. Named Ötzi the Iceman after the Ötztal area where he was found, he became a
worldwide sensation.
Death of the Iceman
The unfortunate Otzi's remains have undergone a battery of tests as we seek to find out more information about our ancestors. The contents of his
stomach, DNA and anthropological aspects like clothing have undergone rigorous study.
Rollo and his colleagues describe in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology how he found two typical mutations common among men with
reduced sperm mobility. A high percentage of men with such a condition are sterile, according to the museum that stores Ötzi the iceman. "Insofar
as the 'iceman' was found to possess both mutations, the possibility that he was unable to father offspring cannot be eliminated," says the South
Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in the Alpine town of Bolzano. "This not improbable hypothesis raises new questions concerning his social rank within
his society," it adds, arguing that the new evidence supports a theory that views the man as a social outcast.
Source
Otzi has no grave within which to roll but I'm sure he'd die of embarrassment, if he wasn't already dead, by the nature of the research
Tattoos above the ankle.
Remains of his clothes.
The feet, to me, seem somehow symbolic of his final moments on the Alps. I'm left with a peculiar feeling and can't place it...
The cause of his death has been proven to be caused by being struck by an arrow that severed a major artery. He died on the Alps from loss of
blood.
Abstract A possible cause of death of the Iceman – a ca. 5’300 BP natural human glacier mummy from the Tyrolean Alps – is an intrathoracic
stone arrowhead. The aim of this study was to prove radiologically his enigmatic cause of death. In August 2005, the Iceman underwent his first
multislice computed tomography examination. As the main pathologic finding, the left dorsal subclavian artery contures shows a 13 mm-long part where
the vessel wall is damaged and a 3 mm-long irregular pseudo-aneurysm – a typical complication of a laceration of the subclavian artery. In the
surrounding soft tissue a large haematoma is visible. Historic records highlight the fatal destiny of subclavian artery injuries e.g. due to massive
active bleeding and shock-related cardiac arrest. Therefore, the Iceman’s cause of death by an arrowhead lacerating among others the left subclavian
artery and leading to a deadly hemorrhagic shock can be now postulated with almost complete certainty, especially when taking the environmental
(3’210 meters above sea level) and historic (5’300 BP) settings into account.
Source and Abstract
A recreation of Otzi can be found in the Norsk Museum. It's based on all the evidence available from his remains, although I take exception to the
hair
...
Source
Reproduction of his weapon and herbs pouch.
During the course of writing this thread, I'm struck by the personal side to Otzi. He lived in a harsh environment and survived to an estimated age
of 45. I'm glad that his remains will now be left in relative peace. I'm not given to superstitions or ritual, but feel like it would now be
appropriate to lay the remains to rest. There can't be very much left to discover. I'm further reminded of the North American equivalent,
Kwaday Dan Sinchithat was afforded a ritual cremation.
Kwaday Dän Sinchí...
remains have already been cremated. This July, during a traditional potlatch feast near the glacier where the remains were found, the Champagne
and Aishihik joined with the Tlingit in scattering their ancestor's ashes to the
wind.
Source
Maybe it's Otzi's turn?
