View source for Ötzi the Iceman

[[File:Oetzi the Iceman portrait.jpg|thumb|Reconstruction of what Ötzi might have looked like, when he was alive. ]]
'''Ötzi the Iceman''',<ref>pronounced {{Audio|De-Oetzi-pronunciation.ogg|ˈœtsi}}</ref> or '''Oetzi''', is a well-preserved natural [[mummy]] of a man who lived about 5,300 years ago.<ref name=snowshoes>{{citation|author=Norman Hammond|title=Iceman was wearing 'earliest snowshoes'|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article516866.ece|newspaper=[[The Times]]|date=21 February 2005}}</ref> 

The mummy was found in September 1991 by two [[Germany|German]] hikers in the Schnalstal [[glacier]], Ötztal [[Alps]], near Hauslabjoch on the border between [[Austria]] and [[Italy]].<ref>{{citation|author=James Neill|title=Otzi, the 5,300 year old Iceman from the Alps: pictures & information|date 27 October 2004 |url=http://www.wilderdom.com/evolution/OtziIcemanAlpsPictures.htm|accessdate=8 March 2007}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://iceman.it/en/node/233|work=South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology|title=The discover of Ötzi}}</ref>

He is also known as the Iceman, Similaun Man, [[wikt:frozen|Frozen]] Fritz, and Man from Hauslabjoch. He is Europe's oldest natural human mummy, and has offered a new picture of Chalcolithic ([[Copper Age]]) Europeans.

Ötzi name was actually Jõse Ghéorgë Suarez before he died.

== Border issues==
[[File:Tisenjoch & Hauslabjoch.jpg|thumb|The place where Ötzi was found is marked with a red dot. Austria is on the left side of the image.]]
Ötzi was found on a mountain ridge, at the border between Austria and Italy. After the First Word War, Austria had to give the southern part of Tyrol to Italy; it is now known as [[Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol]]. At the time, the border was fixed on the [[watershed]] of that ridge. The problem with this is that the ridge is usually covered by a [[glacier]], which was also the case in 1919 and 1920. When the border was fixed, the expert team supposed that the watershed was straight below the glacier.<ref>Bericht des Außenpolitischen Ausschusses des Österreichischen Nationalrates der XXI. Gesetzgebungsperiode ([http://www.parlament.gv.at/PAKT/VHG/XXI/I/I_00874/fnameorig_000000.html 874 der Beilagen zu den Stenographischen Protokollen]) über die Regierungsvorlage „Vertrag zwischen der Republik Österreich und der Italienischen Republik über die Instandhaltung der Grenzzeichen sowie die Vermessung und Vermarkung der gemeinsamen Staatsgrenze samt Schlussprotokoll, Notenwechsel und Anlagen“</ref> The border was fixed that way in 1922 and 1926. The body was found on the Austrian side of the slope. Measurements were done in 1993; they showed that the border is in fact 93 metres from the place where Ötzi was found, on Italian territory.<ref>Südtiroler Archäologiemuseum: ''Ötzi – der Mann aus dem Eis : [http://www.iceman.it/de/grenzfrage Die Grenzfrage]'' – Website</ref> Since 2006, there is a new contract which fixes the border between Austria and Italy: In the case of glaciers, the border is taken on the surface of the glacier, and no longer on the watershed below.<ref>Artikel 3 des [http://www.ris.bka.gv.at/Dokumente/BgblAuth/BGBLA_2006_III_150/COO_2026_100_2_294939.pdf Vertrages zwischen der Republik Österreich und der Italienischen Republik vom 17. Jänner 1994 über die Instandhaltung der Grenzzeichen sowie die Vermessung und Vermarkung der gemeinsamen Staatsgrenze]</ref> This also means that the border is now variable, and depending on the state of the glacier, the place where Ötzi was found is in Austria or in Italy.

Ötzi's body and belongings are now displayed in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in [[Bolzano]] in the Southern Tyrol (Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol).

== Rewarding the finders ==

There was also a long legal struggle by the finders, [[plaintiff]]s Helmut and Erika Simon, for a suitable reward. After many court hearings, the provincial government agreed to pay Erika Simon €150,000. By that time 17 years had passed, and her husband was dead.<ref name="BBC 20080929">{{citation|title='Iceman' row ends after 17 years|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7643286.stm|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=29 September 2008}}.</ref>

== Cause of death ==
In 2001 [[X-ray]]s and a CT scan revealed that Ötzi had an [[arrow]]head lodged in his left [[shoulder]] when he died,<ref>{{citation|author=Stephanie Pain|title=Arrow points to foul play in ancient iceman's death|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1080|publisher=New Scientist |date=2001}}</ref> and a matching small tear on his coat.<ref name="Mummy Tombs: Scientific Studies">{{citation|author=James M. Deem|title=Ötzi: Iceman of the Alps: scientific studies|url=http://www.mummytombs.com/otzi/scientific.htm|date=updated 3 January 2008|accessdate=6 January 2008}}.</ref> 

The discovery of the arrowhead led researchers to think Ötzi died of [[blood]] loss from the wound, which would likely have been fatal even if modern medical techniques had been available.<ref>{{citation|author=Alok Jha|title=Iceman bled to death, scientists say|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/jun/07/archaeology.internationalnews|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=7 June 2007}}.</ref> 

Further research found that the arrow's [[arrow#Shaft|shaft]] had been removed before death, and close examination of the body found [[bruise]]s and cuts to the hands, wrists and chest. [[Head|Cerebral trauma]] suggested 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. 

At present it is believed that death was caused by a blow to the head. Researchers are unsure if this was due to a fall, or from being struck with a rock by another person.<ref>{{citation|author=Rory Carroll|title=How Oetzi the Iceman was stabbed in the back and lost his fight for life|url=http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/humanities/story/0,,671346,00.html|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=21 March 2002}}.</ref>

==Tattoos==
Ötzi exhibits the oldest preserved tattoos in the world.<ref>Deter-Wolf, Aaron ''et al'' 2016. The world's oldest tattoos. ''Journal of Archaeological Science:Reports''. '''5''': 19–24. [[doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.11.007]].</ref> These include 61 marks made from fireplace soot and ash.<ref>Samadelli M. ''et al'' 2015). Complete mapping of the tattoos of the 5300-year-old Tyrolean iceman. ''Journal of Cultural Heritage'' '''16''' (5): 753–758, [[doi:10.1016/j.culher.2014.12.005]]</ref><ref>Pabst M.A. ''et al'' 2009. The tattoos of the Tyrolean iceman: a light microscopical, ultrastructural and element Analytical Study. ''Journal of Archaeological Science''. '''36''': 2335–2341, [[doi:10.1016/j.jas.2009.06.016]]</ref>  There were groups of short, parallel, vertical lines to both sides of the [[lumbar]] [[spine]], cross-shaped  marks on his right knee and right ankle, and parallel lines on his left wrist. 

X-ray examination of his bones showed "age-conditioned or strain-induced degeneration" in these areas. These tattoos may have been related to pain relief treatments similar to [[acupuncture]].
If so, this is at least 2000 years before their previously known earliest use in China (c. 1000 BC).<ref>{{Citation|last=Dorfer L. 1999. ''et al'' |title=A medical report from the stone age? |journal=The Lancet |volume=354|pages=1023–1025|doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(98)12242-0|url=http://www.utexas.edu/courses/classicalarch/readings/Iceman_Tattoos.pdf|accessdate=25 September 2010|postscript=.|pmid=10501382}}</ref>  

== Ötzi's DNA ==
[[DNA]] [[sequence analysis]] has shown that Ötzi had brown eyes, [[blood type]] ''''O'''', was [[lactose intolerance|lactose intolerant]], and was likely to suffer heart disease. He was more closely related to modern [[Corsica]]ns and [[Sardinia]]ns than to populations in the Alps, where he was discovered. His ancestors probably came from the [[Middle East]] as [[agriculture]] became more widespread.<ref name=BBC>Palmer, Jason 2012. Oetzi the Iceman's nuclear genome gives new insights. ''BBC News: Science & Environment''. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17191398]</ref> He was also the first known case of a person infected by the [[Lyme disease]] [[bacterium]].<ref name=BBC/> He was middle-aged.

== References ==
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[[Category:Alps|*]]
[[Category:Archaeology]]
[[Category:Anthropology]]