Otzi the iceman

W.A.L.T. Write facts about Otzi the iceman.

I am a descendant of Otzi the iceman and i have some facts for you!

Ötzi, also called the Iceman, is the well-preserved natural mummy of a man who lived between 3400 and 3100 BCE.^[3] The mummy was found in September 1991 in the Ötztal 
Alps, hence the nickname "Ötzi", near Similaun mountain and Hauslabjoch on the border between Austria and Italy.^[4] He is Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, and has offered 
an unprecedented view of Chalcolithic (Copper Age) Europeans. His body and belongings
 are displayed in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy.

Now the facts about Otzi's discovery.

Ötzi was found on 19 September 1991 by two German tourists, at an elevation of 3,210

 metres (10,530 ft) on the east ridge of the Fineilspitze in the Ötztal Alps on the 

Austrian–Italian border. The tourists, Helmut and Erika Simon, were walking off the path

 between the mountain passes Hauslabjoch and Tisenjoch. They believed that the body

 was of a recently deceased mountaineer.^[5] The next day, a mountain gendarme and the

 keeper of the nearby Similaunhütte first attempted to remove the body, which was frozen

 in ice below the torso, using a pneumatic drill and ice-axes, but had to give up due to 

bad weather. The next day, eight groups visited the site, among whom were mountaineers 

Hans Kammerlander and Reinhold Messner. The body was semi-officially extracted on 22 

September and officially salvaged the following day. It was transported to the office of the 

medical examiner in Innsbruck, together with other objects found. On 24 September, the 

find was examined there by archaeologist Konrad Spindler of the University of Innsbruck. 

He dated the find to be "about four thousand years old", based on the typology of an axe among the retrieved objects.^[6][7]

At the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye of 1919, the border between North and South Tyrol 

was defined as the watershed of the rivers Inn and Etsch. Near Tisenjoch the (now retreated) 

glacier complicated establishing the watershed at the time, and the border was established 

too far north. Although Ötzi's find site drains to the Austrian side, surveys in October 1991 

showed that the body had been located 92.56 metres (101.22 yd) inside Italian territory as 

delineated in 1919″E.^[8] The province of South Tyrol therefore claimed property rights, but 

agreed to let Innsbruck University finish its scientific examinations. Since 1998, it has 

been on display at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, the capital of South Tyrol.^[9]

Now the facts about his body and what he carried!

By current estimates (2016), at the time of his death, Ötzi was 160 centimetres (5 ft 3 in)

 tall, weighed about 50 kilograms (110 lb), and was about 45 years of age.^[11] When his

 body was found, it weighed 13.750 kilograms (30 lb 5.0 oz).^[12][13] Because the body was

 covered in ice shortly after his death, it had only partially deteriorated. Initial reports 

claimed that his penis and most of his scrotum were missing, but this was later shown 

to be unfounded.^[14] 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, north of Bolzano, but later went to live in valleys about 50 kilometres farther north.^[15]

In 2009, a CAT scan revealed that the stomach had shifted upward to where his lower lung

 area would normally be. Analysis of the contents revealed the partly digested remains of 

ibex meat, confirmed by DNA analysis, suggesting he had a meal less than two hours 

before his death. Wheat grains were also found.^[16] It is believed that Ötzi most likely had a

 few slices of a dried, fatty meat, probably bacon, which came from a wild goat in South 

Tyrol, Italy.^[17] 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 and herb 

bread; both were eaten with roots and fruits. The grain also eaten with both meals was a 

highly processed einkorn wheat bran,^[18] 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 plum-like fruits of the blackthorn tree) and various seeds of berries

growing in the wild.^[19]

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 

(estimated about two hours old) at the time of Ötzi's death, which places the event in

 the spring or early summer. Einkorn wheat is harvested in the late summer, and 

sloes in the autumn; these must have been stored from the previous year.^[20]

High levels of both copper particles and arsenic were found in Ötzi's hair. This, along

with Ötzi's copper axe blade, which is 99.7% pure copper, has led scientists to speculate

that Ötzi was involved in copper smelting.^[21]

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.^[22]

Using modern 3D scanning technology, a facial reconstruction has been created for the 

South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy. It shows Ötzi looking old for his 45 

years, with deep-set brown eyes, a beard, a furrowed face, and sunken cheeks. 

He is depicted looking tired and ungroomed.^[23]

That is all the facts that I have about Otzi the iceman for now!