Ötzi the iceman



Ötzi is a mummified human discovered in 1991 in the Schnalstal glacier in the Alps, on the border between Austria and Italy. He died around 3300 BC.



The mummy offers a wealth of information about the humans living in Europe at the time. Ötzi was named after the Ötztal region where he was found.



The new Iceman photoscan website now gives all web users access to images of the body gathered by researchers. The site has a dynamic online-map-style interface to let people zoom into photographs that capture Ötzi from all angles and show details as small as 1 millimetre.



(Image: © South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology / Eurac / Marco Samadelli / Gregor Staschitz)

Who was he?



Ötzi was male, around 45 years old and around 1.6 metres (5' 3") tall - about average for a Neolithic human. He was slim and probably weighed about 50 kilograms.



His hair was dark and wavy, and at least shoulder length. His eyeballs, though dessicated remained in the sockets, allowing scientists to determine that his eyes were blue.



He had a gap between his two incisor teeth, known as a diastema. He also had no wisdom teeth.



(Image: © South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology / Eurac / Marco Samadelli / Gregor Staschitz)

How did he die?



One of the hardest questions to answer about Ötzi is how he died.



Early theories were that he had died from exposure, or was killed as part of a ritual sacrifice. There is good evidence that he was close to home, and the fact he was was unprepared for mountain trekking suggests that he was fleeing.



However, forensic examination of his body suggested a careful burial.



In 2001 an arrowhead found in Ötzi's shoulder provided another possible cause of death. The wound is visible at the very bottom of this picture, just left of the middle.



Another theory uses cuts on his right hand and wrist to argue he had been in a knife fight. However, this conclusion is strongly disputed by other experts.



The current consensus is that he died of a blow to the head.



(Image: © South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology / Eurac / Marco Samadelli / Gregor Staschitz)

Tattoos



Ötzi had several tattoos like these, resembling barcodes. The ones shown are on his lower back.



Unlike modern tattoos, they were made by first cutting lightly into his skin, and then rubbing charcoal into the incisions.



The tattoos may have been an early form of acupuncture, used to treat the iceman's arthritis.



(Image: © South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology / Eurac / Marco Samadelli / Gregor Staschitz)

Tattoos



This closeup of Ötzi's left hand shows two tattoos across the wrist in white light.



(Image: © South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology / Eurac / Marco Samadelli / Gregor Staschitz)