Ötzi, also called The Iceman, Similaun man, or Tyrolean Iceman, is the natural mummy of a man who lived between 3350 and 3105 BC. Ötzi's remains were discovered on September 19, 1991, in the Ötztal Alps (which is why he is called "Ötzi") near the border between Austria and Italy. He is Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, giving a unique view of people who lived during the Copper Age.
Because of an arrowhead found in his left shoulder and other injuries, scientists think Ötzi was killed by another person. Researchers are still studying his life and the events that led to his death. His remains and belongings are displayed at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy.
Discovery
Ötzi was discovered on September 19, 1991, by two German tourists at a height of 3,210 meters (10,530 feet) on the east ridge of the Fineilspitze in the Ötztal Alps, near the Austrian–Italian border, close to Similaun mountain and the Tisenjoch pass. When the tourists, Helmut and Erika Simon, first saw the body, they thought they had found a recently deceased mountaineer. The next day, a mountain officer and the caretaker of the nearby Similaunhütte tried to remove the body, which was frozen in ice below the torso, using an air-powered tool and ice axes. However, bad weather stopped them from continuing. Soon after, eight groups visited the site, including mountaineers Hans Kammerlander and Reinhold Messner.
The body was removed on September 22 and taken to the medical examiner’s office in Innsbruck the next day, along with other items found nearby. On September 24, archaeologist Konrad Spindler from the University of Innsbruck examined the find. He estimated the body was at least 4,000 years old based on the type of axe found with the remains. Later, tissue samples and other materials were studied by scientists, who concluded the person lived between 3359 and 3105 BC, about 5,100 years ago. More precise estimates suggest a 66% chance he died between 3239 and 3105 BC, a 33% chance between 3359 and 3294 BC, and a 1% chance between 3277 and 3268 BC.
During recovery efforts and handling, several accidents occurred. The mummy and its belongings were poked with ski poles and ice tools. The hip area of the body was damaged when an air-powered drill was used during the first attempt to remove it. Ötzi’s longbow also broke during this effort, with part of it recovered from the ice a year later. Poor handling destroyed many parts of the clothing Ötzi was wearing. The mummy’s left arm broke when the body was placed into a coffin for transport from Vent to Innsbruck. Fungus began growing on the Iceman’s skin while the body was on a slab in Innsbruck. Scientists only started carefully stabilizing the mummy after five days.
The border between North and South Tyrol was defined in the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1919 as the line where rivers Inn and Etsch divide. Near Tisenjoch, a glacier (which has since melted) made it hard to determine the border, which was drawn too far north. Although the area where Ötzi was found drains toward Austria, land surveys in October 1991 showed the body was located 92.56 meters (101.22 yards) inside Italian territory, matching Italy’s original claim from 1919.
The province of South Tyrol claimed ownership of the remains but allowed Innsbruck University to complete its research. Since 1998, Ötzi has been displayed at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, the capital of South Tyrol.
Scientific analyses
The body has been thoroughly examined, measured, X-rayed, and dated. Scientists studied tissues, intestinal contents, and items found with the body using microscopes. In August 2004, three frozen bodies of Austro-Hungarian soldiers who died during the Battle of San Matteo in 1918 were discovered on Punta San Matteo mountain in Trentino. One body was sent to a museum to help scientists learn how the environment affected its preservation, which could provide clues about Ötzi’s life.
Ötzi was about 160 cm (5 ft 3 in) tall, weighed around 50 kg (110 lb), and was approximately 45 years old when he died. When his body was found, it weighed 13.750 kg (30 lb 5.0 oz). Because ice covered his body quickly after his death, it had not fully decayed. Early reports said his penis and most of his scrotum were missing, but this was later proven incorrect. Studies of pollen, dust, and the chemical makeup of his tooth enamel showed he grew up near what is now the South Tyrol village of Feldthurns, north of Bolzano, but later lived in valleys about 50 kilometers (31 miles) farther north.
In 2009, a CAT scan showed his stomach had moved upward to where his lower lungs would normally be. Analysis of the stomach contents found partly digested ibex meat, confirmed by DNA, suggesting he had eaten less than two hours before dying. Wheat grains were also found. Scientists think he ate a few slices of dried, fatty meat from a wild goat in South Tyrol, Italy. His intestines contained two meals: one with chamois meat, the other with red deer and herb bread, both eaten with roots and fruits. Both meals included highly processed einkorn wheat bran, possibly bread. Near his body, scientists found chaff and grains of einkorn and barley, seeds of flax and poppy, and kernels of sloes (small plum-like fruits) and wild berry seeds.
Hair analysis showed his diet in the months before his death. Pollen from his first meal indicated it was eaten in a mid-altitude conifer forest. Other pollens showed wheat and legumes, which may have been farmed crops. Pollen from hop-hornbeam was also found. This pollen was very well preserved, suggesting it was fresh (about two hours old) when he died, placing the event in spring or early summer. Einkorn wheat is harvested in late summer, and sloes in autumn; these items must have been stored from the previous year.
High levels of copper and arsenic were found in his hair. This, along with his copper axe blade (99.7% copper), led scientists to think he may have worked with copper.
By studying the shape of his tibia, femur, and pelvis, scientists think he walked long distances over hilly areas. This level of movement was uncommon among other Copper Age Europeans. This may mean he was a high-altitude shepherd.
Using modern 3D scanning, a facial reconstruction was made for the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology. The image shows Ötzi looking older than his 45 years, with deep brown eyes, a beard, a furrowed face, and sunken cheeks. He appears tired and unkempt.
Ötzi had Trichuris trichiura (whipworm), an intestinal parasite. CT scans showed his right ribs were cracked when he lay face down after death or when ice crushed his body. One of his fingernails (of the two found) had three Beau’s lines, showing he was sick three times in the six months before his death. The last illness lasted about two weeks. His outer skin layer was missing, a natural result of his mummification in ice. His teeth had severe decay from cavities, likely caused by his grain-heavy, high-carbohydrate diet. DNA analysis in 2012 showed Ötzi was lactose intolerant, supporting the idea that lactose intolerance was common at that time despite the spread of agriculture. His lungs were blackened by soot, probably from being near open fires for warmth and cooking.
Ötzi had 61 tattoos, made of 19 groups of black lines ranging from 1–3 mm (0.039–0.118 in) wide and 7–40 mm (0.28–1.57 in) long. These included parallel lines along his body, a cruciform mark behind his right knee and on his right ankle, and parallel lines around his left wrist. Most tattoos were on his legs, with 12 groups of lines. Microscopic analysis showed the tattoos used pigment made from fireplace ash or soot. In 2024, researchers tested ancient tattooing methods and found Ötzi’s tattoos likely used a puncture technique with a bone point or copper awl, not an incision method as previously thought. Scientists think he was tattooed multiple times in the same areas, as most were very dark.
Radiological exams showed "age-conditioned or strain-induced degeneration" in areas with tattoos, including osteochondrosis and slight spondylosis in his lower spine and wear-and-tear in his knee and ankle joints. These tattoos may have been used for pain relief, similar to acupressure or acupuncture, even though these practices were not used in China until around 1000 BC. Nine of the 19 tattoo groups were near or on acupunctural areas used today, and others were on meridians or over arthritic joints. His abdominal tattoos may have helped ease pain from his whipworm infection.
At one time, Ötzi was thought to be the oldest tattooed human mummy found. However, in 2018, tattoos were discovered on nearly contemporary Egyptian mummies.
Many of Ötzi’s tattoos were hard to see with the naked eye. In 2015, researchers used noninvasive multispectral imaging to capture images on light wavelengths invisible to humans
Cause of death
The cause of death was unknown for 10 years after the body was discovered. At first, it was thought that Ötzi died from cold during a winter storm. Later, some believed he might have been a victim of a ritual sacrifice, possibly because he was a leader. This idea came from theories about other bodies found in peat bogs, like Tollund Man and Lindow Man.
In 2001, X-rays and a CT scan showed that Ötzi had an arrowhead in his left shoulder when he died, along with a matching tear in his coat. Researchers believed he died from blood loss caused by the wound, which would have been deadly even with modern medicine. Further study found that the arrow’s shaft had been removed before death. The body showed bruises and cuts on the hands, wrists, and chest, as well as brain injuries from a blow to the head. A sharp object cut his thumb at the base, reaching the bone, and this wound had no scarring, meaning it was fresh when he died. Today, it is believed Ötzi bled to death after the arrow broke his shoulder blade and damaged nerves and blood vessels near his lung.
DNA tests in 2003 found traces of blood from at least four other people on his belongings: one on his knife, two on an arrowhead in his quiver, and a fourth on his coat. Some think this means Ötzi killed two people with the same arrow and retrieved it both times, and the blood on his coat came from a wounded companion he may have carried. Ötzi’s position (frozen, face down, left arm across his chest) suggests he may have been turned onto his stomach to remove the arrow before death. A 2024 study also suggested his arm position might have been an attempt to slow blood loss. The Cambridge World History of Violence (2020) used Ötzi as evidence of prehistoric warfare.
Most research assumed Ötzi died where his body was found. In 2010, a study proposed he died at a lower altitude and was later buried higher in the mountains. This idea, by archaeologist Alessandro Vanzetti and colleagues, was based on the location of items near Ötzi and the possibility that his body moved due to thawing and refreezing cycles. However, Klaus Oeggl, an archaeobotanist, said the study did not prove the scattered stones formed a burial platform. Albert Zink, a biological anthropologist, noted that Ötzi’s bones had no signs of damage from a downhill slide, and intact blood clots in his wound would have been harmed if his body had moved uphill.
Legal dispute
Italian law gave the Simons the right to receive 25% of the value of Ötzi from the South Tyrolean provincial government. In 1994, the government offered a "symbolic" reward of 10 million lire (€5,200), which the Simons refused. In 2003, the Simons started a legal case in Bolzano, asking a court to recognize their role in finding Ötzi and to declare them the "official discoverers." The court ruled in favor of the Simons in November 2003. By the end of December 2003, the Simons said they wanted $300,000 as their fee. The provincial government decided to challenge the court's decision.
At the same time, two other people claimed they were part of the same group that found Ötzi and that they discovered the body first. In 2005, a Bolzano court heard these rival claims. Mrs. Simon was upset because she said neither woman was on the mountain when Ötzi was found. Mrs. Simon’s lawyer said in 2005 that she was very frustrated by the claims and the fact that the two women appeared 14 years after Ötzi was discovered. In 2008, Jarc told a Slovene newspaper that she had written to the Bolzano court twice about her claim but received no response.
In 2004, Helmut Simon died. In June 2006, an appeals court confirmed that the Simons had discovered Ötzi and were therefore entitled to a finder’s fee. The court also said the provincial government must pay the Simons’ legal costs. After this ruling, Mrs. Erika Simon lowered her claim to €150,000. The provincial government argued that the costs of creating a museum and preserving Ötzi should be considered when deciding the fee. It said it would pay no more than €50,000. In September 2006, the government took the case to Italy’s highest court, the Court of Cassation.
On September 29, 2008, it was announced that the provincial government and Mrs. Simon had reached an agreement. Under the settlement, Mrs. Simon would receive €150,000 as recognition for her and her late husband’s role in discovering Ötzi and for the tourism income Ötzi generates.