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Ötzi

Representational image of ancient healing medicinal practice. Source: dimensdesign / Adobe Stock

Ancient Healing Methods Offer an Alternative Paradigm in Health

As long as life has existed on earth, so have issues associated with maintaining health and the remediation of disease. Today, when many of us get sick, our first course of action is to call the...
Ötzi Tyrolean Iceman continues to be a perplexing mystery in the realm of archaeology. Source: YouTube screenshot/Ancient Geographic

Ötzi the Iceman: The Archaeological Discovery that Changed Everything (Video)

In the unforgiving terrain of the Alps, a 5,300-year-old saga unfolds as the Tyrolean Iceman, Ötzi , succumbs to a calculated act of violence . Shot from a distance, an arrow pierces him, severing a...
Otzi the Iceman as he was found. (Public Domain)

Was Otzi the Iceman a Victim of Human Sacrifice? (Video)

Otzi , the famous Iceman discovered high in the Ötztal Alps in 1991, presents a perplexing mystery in the realm of archaeology. It was long believed Otzi had been murdered, but recent investigations...
New study challenges what was initially believed about 5,300-year-old Ötzi the Iceman genes. (Inset: The Ötzi mummy)  Source: OetziTheIceman/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 (Inset; Cell Press)

Ötzi the Iceman Genes Trace to Early Anatolian Farmers, and He Had a Receding Hairline

The world’s oldest Alpine celebrity, fodder for many different kinds of studies and analyses over the years since his discovery on the mountainous border between Austria and Italy in 1991, ‘ Ötzi the...
The upper body of Ötzi, protruding from the ice in the Tisenjoch pass on September 19, 1991. Photo: Helmut Simon. Used with kind permission from Erika Simon. Source: Erika Simon/SAGE Journals

Ötzi the Iceman Took a Posthumous Ride on River of Ice Water

A new proposal by researchers of the oldest known naturally mummified corpse, better known as Ötzi the Iceman, questions both the time and place of his death. New analysis points towards the time of...
Vincent van Gogh's Pair of Shoes was painted in June 1895 at Auvers-sur-Oise. (Public Domain)

Magic Shoes And Boots: The Soles Of Mythology

Interest in the history and archaeology of ancient footwear began in the 17th century and today the formal study of footwear is called ‘ calceology.’ This field of science includes interpreting...
Nicole Wilson had Ötzi the Iceman’s tattoos replicated on her body. Source: TJ Proechel / Nicole Wilson. Inset: Two tattooed bands can be seen around Ötzi the Iceman’s wrist. (South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology)

Artist Recreates Tattoos of Ötzi the Iceman in Her Own Blood

In an unusual performance, even by today’s standards of contemporary, process-driven art, artist Nicole Wilson has been replicating on her own body and in her own blood the tattoos discovered on the...
Window looking into the Iceman's refrigerated cell. A new study explores the environment in which the Tyrolean Iceman (Otzi) died. Source: South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology/Ochsenreiter

New Study Raises Questions about the Tyrolean Iceman’s Murder Scene

A new study of ice cores at a previously unexplored ice dome in the Ötztal Alps on the border of Austria and Italy has examined the environment in which the Tyrolean Iceman, popularly known as Otzi,...
What will this frozen goat teach us about famous human ice mummies?

What a Frozen Alpine Goat Can Teach Us About Famous Ice Mummies

DNA is especially important now in understanding our ancestors and the past. However, there is a problem in that it can often be difficult to analyze and preserve. The discovery of a mummified...
Stone Age clothing suggests our ancestors were more interested in comfort than style.

Stone Age Clothing: Function Over Fashion

One of the defining periods of early humans and their development is the Stone Age . This long era of our earliest history lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and gradually ended between 8500 BC to...
Left, Ötzi’s bowstring; Right, The Iceman's reconstruction by Alfons & Adrie Kennis Source: © South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology / H. Wisthaler;  Right -Ochsenreiter

Ice Age Hunger Gamer Ötzi’s Bowstring Is Identified

A length of cordage discovered alongside the 5,300-year-old body of ´Ötzi the Iceman´, the ancient hunter who was frozen high in the Dolomites has been found to be a string for his wooden hunting bow...
Reconstruction of Otzi the Iceman by Alfons & Adrie Kennis. (Thilo Parg/CC BY SA 3.0) View looking down westwards to the Ötzi site. (J.H. Dickson et al)

Moss Reveals New Route For Otzi's Death Walk

His 5,300-year-old mummy contained traces of 75 plant species and reveal that Ötzi (Otzi) the Iceman climbed through the Schnalstal valley in Italy. The naturally mummified, 5,300-year-old corpse is...
Otzi reconstructed

Evidence From Ötzi Tells Us He Came From a Caring Bunch Who Dabbled in Medicine

There has long been speculation about the purpose of the tattoos on the body of Ötzi the Iceman, a 5,300-year-old mummy, who was discovered by some German tourists in the Oetz Valley, Austria, in...
Ötzi Memorial, Austria (GFDL), Ötzi Arrow (Wierer et al), Ötzi Reconstruction (CC BY SA 3.0 )

The Final Days of Otzi: Stone Tools Reveal What the Iceman Endured

Stone tools found with a 5,300-year-old frozen mummy from Northern Italy reveal how alpine Copper Age communities lived, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Ursula...

Ancient Murder Victim Had A Very Heavy Heart!

In 1991, hikers in the Italian Alps near Similaun mountain on the border between Austria and Italy discovered a 5,300 year murder victim, now known as Ötzi, who is now housed at the South Tyrol...
Ötzi or Kelab as portrayed by Jürgen Vogel in Der Mann aus dem Eis (Iceman).

Ötzi the Iceman Becomes a Movie

Inspired by Ötzi’s fascinating story for survival, German filmmaker Felix Randau attempts to revive the life of the most famous natural mummy in history though a feature film. Der Mann aus dem Eis (...
A cross-shaped tattoo on Ötzi's knee.

Acupuncture for the Iceman: Did Ötzi Get Inked for Health?

Ötzi the iceman was discovered in the Oetz Valley, Austria, in 1991 by some German tourists. When this 5,300-year-old mummy was first found it was believed the frozen corpse belonged to a soldier who...
Ötzi’s Ancient Axe is from Tuscany, Giving Firm Evidence of Neolithic Travel and Trade

Ötzi’s Ancient Axe is from Tuscany, Giving Firm Evidence of Neolithic Travel and Trade

Scientists have officially verified that copper used to make Otzi the Iceman’s axe blade did not come from the Alpine region as was initially suggested, but instead it came from southern Tuscany in...
Reconstruction of the face of Ötzi

When Your Ancestral Forefather Is a Mummy: 19 Descendants of 5,300-Year-Old Ötzi the Iceman Identified In Austria

Those who are lucky enough to have well-kept family records may be able to trace their history back several generations. Some can even track family connections going back a few centuries. But what if...
Naturalistic reconstruction of Ötzi - South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology.

Did Ötzi the Iceman Actually Freeze to Death?

A new study suggests that Ötzi the Tyrolean Iceman died of exposure to freezing temperatures in the Italian Alps. Researchers claim that his body and head injuries were most likely made during some...
Ice Man, Otzi: A Treacherous Murder with Unexpected Links to Central Italy

Ice Man, Otzi: A Treacherous Murder with Unexpected Links to Central Italy

The copper used to make Otzi's axe blade did not come from the Alpine region as had previously been supposed, but from ore mined in southern Tuscany. Ötzi was probably not involved in working the...
Otzi Speaks: Scientists Reconstruct Voice of 5,300-Year-Old Iceman

Otzi Speaks: Scientists Reconstruct Voice of 5,300-Year-Old Iceman

Scientists have made the best approximation of the voice of Otzi the Iceman, the world-famous mummy who met a violent death in the mountains of Austria around 5,300 years ago. His voice was...
5,800-Year-Old Snowshoe Kept in Office as a Keepsake by its Finder is Oldest in the World

5,800-Year-Old Snowshoe Kept in Office as a Keepsake by its Finder is Oldest in the World

A crude snowshoe dating back about 5,800 years has been turned over to authorities after an Italian cartographer found it near where the ice mummy of Otzi the Iceman, a Neolithic hunter slain some...
This photo of Ötzi’s clothing was taken by Niall O Sullivan of the Institute for Mummies and the Iceman.

5,300-Year-Old Otzi the Iceman Was Wearing Clothing from Five Separate Animal Species

Otzi the Iceman, a mummy found in 1991 on a glacier in the Tyrolean Alps, was clothed in a bearskin cap, goatskin leggings, sheepskin coat, cow skin shoes and a deerskin quiver when he was killed in...

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