Otzi

Ótzi, also known as the Iceman, is a fascinating archaeological subject that continues to capture the interest of scientists and history buffs. Discovered in 1991 on the Austrian-Italian border, his mummified body provides valuable insights into the lives of people in the Copper Age. Using modern technologies such as DNA analysis and computed tomography, scientists have reconstructed Ótzi's final days, revealing the dramatic circumstances of his death. These discoveries not only enrich our knowledge of the past but also lead to controversy surrounding his origins and legacy.

Ótzi, the Iceman, Hibernatus—whatever we call him—is someone unique and unrepeatable, and his discovery 12 years ago was the greatest archaeological sensation of the past century. Examination of his remains has allowed us to reconstruct the lives of Copper Age people with incredible precision, and even reconstruct the final hours of Ótzi's own life, step by step. They form a dramatic, terrifying, and unexpected story.

It all began on Thursday, September 19, 1991. A pair of skiers from Nuremberg, Helmut and Erika Simon, strayed off the trail on their way to a mountain hut on a pass beneath the Similaun Glacier. In the upper Ótztal Valley, right on the Italian-Austrian border, they stumbled upon the body of a naked man at the foot of some small rocks

His legs, arm, and lower body were still embedded in the ice, but his head and back were now free. The year had been exceptionally warm—spring was unnaturally hot, summer was scorching, and in autumn, dry winds from the Sahara brought clouds of reddish dust that settled on the ice and partially buried Otzi's body. The ice thawed year-round, and snowfall was very sparse. In such conditions, the ice gives up what has been stuck in it for years—discarded bottles, cigarettes, cans, lost ice axes, ski poles. And sometimes even the bodies of careless tourists. There have been several such cases in recent years. This isn't just in the Alps—glaciers are retreating all over the world, returning the treasures embedded within them. But this one was truly exceptional...

Skier with an axe

Terrified by the gruesome discovery, the Simons quickly reached a nearby mountain hut and notified its owner, who in turn alerted the Italian Carabinieri and Austrian gendarmerie. The same day, the body was recovered using ice axes and ski poles, causing damage to the mummified body (especially the left side of the pelvis). No one was concerned—everyone assumed they were the remains of a careless tourist from the turn of the century. However, work was soon suspended due to a sudden change in weather. The next day, the Department of Forensic Medicine in Innsbruck was notified, along with Professor Konrad Spindler of the Institute of Antiquities in that city.

Even then, attention was drawn to the strangely dehydrated, desiccated body and the peculiar objects and clothing—skiers, even those from the beginning of the last century, were unlikely to be wearing bearskin jackets and leather slippers lined with dried grass. Nor did they carry a quiver of arrows and a copper axe.

Clearly, this wasn't a lost tourist. Otzi's subsequent fate is well known, so there's no need to repeat it here. However, the last two years have brought a series of discoveries that have changed our understanding of the Iceman and allowed us to reconstruct the final days of his life.

The first discovery involved collecting samples of his skin and internal organs, while the second involved detailed X-rays and computed tomography scans, which revealed the presence of a stone spearhead still embedded in his body. The reconstruction of events presented in this article is based entirely on the results of these studies.

After being extracted from the glacier, Ótzi found shelter in a special incubator in Innsbruck. In 1998, he was transported with honors to Bolzano in South Tyrol, in the Alto Adige region, and placed in a specially constructed building—an ice igloo with controlled temperature (-6°C) and humidity (almost 100%). He soon became the city's and the region's biggest attraction. Income from tickets alone reached €2.5 million in 2002, and the museum earned even more from selling photographic rights.

Few people start earning that much money 5,000 years after their death, and few become the spark of interstate disputes. And Austria and Italy haven't had such a serious dispute in a long time—Austrian nationalists are still fighting to reclaim their ancestor.