Today in class I heard...Ötzi was found by two German tourists from
Nuremberg, Helmut and Erika Simon, on September 19, 1991 and excavated by German archaeologist, Konrad Spindler. The body was at first thought to be a modern corpse, like several others which had been recently found in the region. Lying on its front and frozen in ice below the torso, it was crudely removed from the glacier by the Austrian authorities using a small
jackhammer (which punctured the hip of the body) and
ice-axes using non-archaeological methods. In addition, before the body was removed from the ice, people were allowed to see it, and some took portions of the clothing and tools as souvenirs. The body was then taken to a morgue in
Innsbruck where its true age was ascertained.
Surveys in October 1991 showed that the body had been located 92.56 meters inside Italian territory
Coordinates: 
46°46′44″N 10°50′23″E / 46.77889°N 10.83972°E / 46.77889; 10.83972.
[3] Since
1998 it has been on display at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in
Bolzano,
Alto Adige,
Italy.
The corpse has been extensively examined, measured,
X-rayed, and dated. Tissues and intestinal contents have been examined microscopically, as have the items found with the body. In August 2004, frozen bodies of three
Austro-Hungarian soldiers killed during the
Battle of San Matteo (1918) were found on the mountain of San Matteo in the
Trentino region of Italy. One body was sent to a museum in the hope that research on how the environment affected its preservation would help unravel Ötzi's past and future evolution.
[4]
By current estimates, at the time of his death Ötzi was approximately 1.65 metres (5 ft 5 in) tall,
[5] weighed about 50 kilograms (110 lb; 7.9 st)
[6] and was about 45 years of age.
[5] When his body was found, it weighed 38 kilograms (84 lb; 6.0 st).
[5] Because the body was covered in ice shortly after his death, it had only partially deteriorated. Analysis of pollen, dust grains and the
isotopic composition of his
tooth enamel indicates that he spent his childhood near the present village of
Feldthurns (Velturno), north of Bolzano, but later went to live in valleys about 50 kilometres further north.
[7] Analysis by Franco Rollo's group at the
University of Camerino has shown that Ötzi's
mitochondrial DNA belongs to the K1 subcluster of the mitochondrial
haplogroup K, but that it cannot be categorized into any of the three modern branches of that subcluster.
[8] Rollo's group published Ötzi's complete mtDNA sequence in 2008.
[9]
Analysis of Ötzi's intestinal contents showed two meals (the last one consumed about eight hours before his death), one of
chamois meat, the other of
red deer meat. Both were eaten with grain as well as roots and fruits. The grain from both meals was a highly processed
einkorn wheat bran,
[10] quite possibly eaten in the form of bread. In the proximity of the body, and thus possibly originating from the Iceman's provisions, chaff and grains of
einkorn and
barley, and seeds of
flax and
poppy were discovered, as well as kernels of
sloes (small plumlike fruits of the blackthorn tree) and various seeds of berries growing in the wild.
[11] Hair analysis was used to examine his diet from several months before.
Pollen in the first meal showed that it had been consumed in a mid-altitude
conifer forest, and other pollens indicated the presence of wheat and
legumes, which may have been domesticated crops. Pollen grains of
hop-hornbeam were also discovered. The pollen was very well preserved, with the cells inside remaining intact, indicating that it had been fresh (a few hours old) at the time of Ötzi's death, which places the event in the spring. Interestingly, einkorn wheat is harvested in the late summer, and
sloes in the autumn; these must have been stored from the previous year.
High levels of both
copper particles and
arsenic were found in Ötzi's hair. This, along with Ötzi's copper axe which is 99.7% pure copper, has led scientists to speculate that Ötzi was involved in copper
smelting.
[12]
By examining the proportions of Ötzi's
tibia,
femur and
pelvis, Christopher Ruff has determined that Ötzi's lifestyle included long walks over hilly terrain. This degree of mobility is not characteristic of other
Copper Age Europeans. Ruff proposes that this may indicate that Ötzi was a high-altitude shepherd.
[13]Health
Ötzi apparently had whipworm (Trichuris trichiura), an intestinal parasite. During CT scans, it was observed that three or four of his right ribs had been squashed when he had been lying face down after death, or where the ice had crushed his body. One of his fingernails (of the two found) shows three Beau's lines indicating he was sick three times in the six months before he died. The last incident, two months before he died, lasted about two weeks.[14] Also, it was found that his epidermis, the outer skin layer, was missing, a natural process from his mummification in ice.[6]
[edit] Tattoos
Reconstruction of how Ötzi may have looked when alive (Museum Bélesta, Ariège, France) [edit] Clothes and shoes
An artist's impression of Ötzi's right shoe 
Ötzi's flint knife and its sheath
Other items found with the Iceman were a
copper axe with a
yew handle, a
flint-bladed knife with an
ash handle and a
quiver of 14 arrows with
viburnum and
dogwood shafts. Two of the arrows, which were broken, were tipped with flint and had
fletching (stabilizing fins), while the other 12 were unfinished and untipped. The arrows were found in a
quiver with what is presumed to be a
bow string, an unidentified tool, and an
antler tool which might have been used for sharpening arrow points.
[19] There was also an unfinished yew
longbow that was 1.82 metres (72 in) long.
[20]
In addition, among Ötzi's possessions were
berries, two
birch bark baskets, and two species of
polypore mushrooms with leather strings through them. One of these, the
birch fungus, is known to have antibacterial properties, and was likely used for medicinal purposes. The other was a type of
tinder fungus, included with part of what appeared to be a complex firestarting kit. The kit featured pieces of over a dozen different plants, in addition to flint and
pyrite for creating sparks.
Ötzi's copper axe was of particular interest, as it is the only complete prehistoric axe so far discovered. 60 centimetres (24 in) long, the axe's shaft was made from
yew tree bark, while the handle of the axe was made from yew branch and leather binding. The copper axe blade extended out of the leather binding and was 9.5 cm long.
[21] Ötzi lived 5,300 years ago, and humans were not thought to have discovered copper for another 1,000 years, forcing archaeologists to re-date the
copper ageGenetic analysis
A group of scientists have typed Ötzi's full genome and promised to reveal it in 2011.
[23] Analysis of his
mitochondrial DNA has shown that Ötzi belongs to the K1 subclade, but cannot be categorized into any of the three modern branches of that subclade (K1a, K1b or K1c). The new subclade has provisionally been named
K1ö for
Ötzi.
[24] Multiplex essay study was able to confirm that the Iceman's mtDNA belongs to a new European mtDNA clade with a very limited distribution amongst modern data sets.
[25]Cause of death
The Ötzi memorial on Tiesenjoch, near the Similaun mountain, where Ötzi the Iceman was found, in the Ötztal Alps [edit] Initial speculation
It was initially believed that Ötzi died from exposure during a winter storm. Later it was speculated that Ötzi may have been a victim of a ritual sacrifice, perhaps for being a chieftain.[26][27] This explanation was inspired by theories previously advanced for the first millennium B.C. bodies recovered from peat bogs such as the Tollund Man and the Lindow Man.[27]Theories involving struggle followed by cold death
In 2001 X-rays and a CT scan revealed that Ötzi had an arrowhead lodged in his left shoulder when he died,
[28] and a matching small tear on his coat.
[29] The discovery of the arrowhead prompted researchers to theorize Ötzi died of
blood loss from the wound, which would likely have been fatal even if modern medical techniques had been available.
[30] Further research found that the arrow's
shaft had been removed before death, and close examination of the body found
bruises and cuts to the hands, wrists and chest and
cerebral trauma indicative of a blow to the head. One of the cuts was to the base of his thumb that reached down to the bone but had no time to heal before his death. Currently it is believed that death was caused by a blow to the head, though researchers are unsure if this was due to a fall, or from being struck with a rock by another person.
[31] Unpublished and thus unconfirmed DNA analyses claim they revealed traces of blood from four other people on his gear: one from his knife, two from the same arrowhead, and a fourth from his coat.
[32] Interpretations of these findings were that Ötzi killed two people with the same arrow, and was able to retrieve it on both occasions, and the blood on his coat was from a wounded comrade he may have carried over his back.
[29] Still, this is to be taken with caution. Ötzi's unnatural posture in death (frozen body, face down, left arm bent across the chest) suggests that the theory of a solitary death from blood loss, hunger, cold and weakness is untenable. Rather, before death occurred and
rigor mortis set in, the Iceman was turned on to his stomach in the effort to remove the arrow shaft.
[33]
The DNA evidence suggests that he was assisted by companions who were also wounded; pollen and food analysis suggests that he was out of his home territory. The copper axe could not have been made by him alone. It would have required a concerted group tribal effort to mine, smelt and cast the copper axe head. This may indicate that Ötzi was part of an armed raiding party involved in a skirmish, perhaps with a neighboring tribe, and this skirmish had gone badly. When the Iceman's
mitochondrial DNA was analyzed by Franco Rollo and his colleagues,
[34] it was discovered that he had genetic markers associated with reduced fertility. It has been speculated that this may have affected his social acceptance, or at least that his infertility could have had social implications within his tribal group, which could have played a role in the chain of events that led to the confrontation.
[35]Burial theory
In 2010, it was proposed that Ötzi died at a much lower altitude and was buried higher in the mountains, as posited by archaeologist Alessandro Vanzetti of the Sapienza University of Rome and his colleagues.[36] According to their study of the items found near Ötzi and their locations, it is possible that the iceman may have been placed above what has been interpreted as a stone burial mound but was subsequently moved with each thaw cycle that created a flowing watery mix driven by gravity before being re-frozen.[37]
While archaeobotanist Klaus Oeggl of the University of Innsbruck agrees that the natural process described probably caused the body to move from the ridge that includes the stone formation, he pointed out that the paper provided no compelling evidence to demonstrate that the scattered stones constituted a burial platform.[37] Moreover, biological anthropologist Albert Zink argues that the iceman’s bones display no dislocations that would have resulted from a downhill slide and that the intact blood clots in his arrow wound would show damage were the body carted up the mountain.[37]
In either case, the burial theory does not contradict the possibility of a violent cause of death as stated in the preceding theories
Italian law entitled the Simons to a finders' fee from the Bolzano provincial government of 25% of the value of Ötzi. In 1994 the authorities offered a "symbolic" reward of 10 million
lire (€5,200), which the Simons turned down.
[38] In 2003, the Simons filed a lawsuit which asked a court in
Bolzano,
Alto Adige,
Italy, to recognize their role in Ötzi's discovery and declare them his "official discoverers". The court decided in the Simons' favor in November 2003, and at the end of December that year the Simons announced that they were seeking US$300,000 as their fee. The provincial government decided to appeal.
[39]
In addition, two people came forward to claim that they were part of the same mountaineering party that came across Ötzi and discovered the body first:
- Magdalena Mohar Jarc, a Slovenian actress, who alleged that she discovered the corpse first, and shortly after returning to an alpine house, asked Helmut Simon to take photographs of Ötzi.
- Sandra Nemeth, from Switzerland, who contended that she found the corpse before Helmut and Erika Simon, and that she spat on Ötzi to make sure that her DNA would be found on the body later. She asked for a DNA test on the remains, but experts believed that there was little chance of finding any trace.[40]
The rival claims were heard by a Bolzano court. The legal case angered Mrs. Simon, who alleged that neither woman was present on the mountain that day.
[40] This position is supported by a detailed description of the Iceman's discovery by Austrian researcher Elisabeth Rastbichler-Zissernig.
[41] In 2005, Mrs. Simon's lawyer said: "Mrs. Simon is very upset by all this and by the fact that these two new claimants have decided to appear 14 years after Ötzi was found."
[40]
In 2004, Helmut Simon died. Two years later, in June 2006, an appeals court affirmed that the Simons had indeed discovered the Iceman and were therefore entitled to a finder's fee. It also ruled that the provincial government had to pay the Simons' legal costs. After this ruling, Mrs. Erika Simon reduced her claim to €150,000. The provincial government's response was that the expenses it had incurred to establish a museum and the costs of preserving the Iceman should be considered in determining the finder's fee. It insisted it would pay no more than €50,000. In September 2006, the authorities appealed the case to Italy's highest court, the
Court of Cassation.
[39]
On 29 September 2008 it was announced that the provincial government and Mrs. Simon had reached a settlement of the dispute, under which she would receive €150,000 in recognition of Ötzi's discovery by her and her late husband and the tourist income that it attracts.
[38][42]
[edit] "Ötzi's curse"
Influenced by the "
Curse of the Pharaohs" and the media theme of cursed mummies, claims have been made that Ötzi is
cursed. The allegation revolves around the deaths of several people connected to the discovery, recovery and subsequent examination of Ötzi. It is alleged that they have died under mysterious circumstances. These persons include co-discoverer Helmut Simon,
[43] and Konrad Spindler, the first examiner of the mummy in Austria at a local morgue in 1991.
[44] To date, the deaths of seven people, of which four were the result of some violence in the form of accidents, have been attributed to the alleged curse. However, hundreds of people were involved in the recovery of Ötzi and are still involved in studying the body and the artifacts found with it.
[45]
Well first of all me and my brothers are in the nutcracker. I am a Floating Angel and my brothers are Pepperment Sticks. Daisy will be in it next year? Today is the last performance. The tickets are 25 DOLLARS oh man. That is a lot of money [!] . I might get some better photos of us. My parents might bring the video camera and the camera.
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