A 5,300-year-old murder mystery - Albert Zink

On September 19th, 1991, two hikers traversing the Ötzal Alps on the border of Austria and Italy discovered a corpse emerging from the ice. Researchers soon realized they weren’t looking at the victim of a recent climbing accident, as initially assumed, but the mummified body of a man who’d lived about 5,300 years ago, who they came to call Ötzi the Iceman.

One early theory for Ötzi’s alpine death was that he was a local shepherd or hunter who got caught in bad weather and froze. However, a shocking discovery eventually revealed his true cause of death and upended his story. So, what do we know about Ötzi? And how did he die? Over the millennia, the Alpine cold and sun protected Ötzi’s body from decomposition, freezing and drying it out in cycles, and leaving critical clues for researchers.

Ötzi was about 160 centimeters tall, weighed some 50 kilograms, and died between 40- and 50-years-old. He led an active life but had a strong genetic predisposition for cardiovascular diseases. His intestines were also parasitized by whipworms and his stomach contained ulcer-causing bacteria, all of which might have caused some unpleasant symptoms. He died hundreds of years before Stonehenge and the Great Pyramid were constructed, around 3350 BCE.

Ötzi lived during the late Neolithic Copper Age, when metal extraction and crafting practices were spreading throughout Eurasia. Indeed, along with stone arrowheads and knives, Ötzi carried an axe made of copper from what is now Tuscany. Swaths of his clothing were made of sheep and goat leather, and his diet included cultivated grains, all of which suggested that Ötzi’s people relied on certain domesticated animals and crops.

And when researchers inspected Ötzi’s skin with light ranging from infrared to UV, they found a total of 61 tattoos. Interestingly, the markings corresponded with areas of Ötzi’s body where he probably experienced pain, like from degeneration observed in his knees, ankles, and spine. Researchers think that the tattoos might have been intended as treatment— perhaps an early form of acupuncture.

Close scrutiny also clarified the circumstances of Ötzi’s death—and led to a tantalizing prehistoric murder mystery. A decade into studying Ötzi, a CT scan picked up a crucial detail: there was a flint arrowhead lodged in Ötzi’s left shoulder. Soon enough, researchers started piecing Ötzi’s final days together. A deep cut wound on Ötzi’s hand showed initial signs of healing and must have occurred just days before his death.

It was likely a defensive wound which indicated that Ötzi was attacked with a sharp blade but fought back and survived. Ötzi may have dressed the wound with bog moss, which has antiseptic properties and was found with his remains. Meanwhile, the types and location of pollen in Ötzi’s digestive tract indicated that it was spring or early summer and that his last three days were hectic. Ötzi seemed to be fleeing something.

About 33 hours before his death, Ötzi was at an altitude of around 2,500 meters, near the timber line. Then, approximately 24 hours later, he descended to at least 1,200 meters, to a zone of warmth-loving trees. In his final hours, Ötzi reached an altitude of around 3,000 meters where grasses, sedges, and certain wildflowers dominated. His last meal included a large helping of dried wild ibex, roe deer, and grains.

Then, despite Ötzi’s apparent efforts to escape the conflict, someone at a distant vantage shot him from behind. The arrow pierced a major artery and embedded itself in his left shoulder, causing extensive blood loss. Ötzi probably died soon after, his remains and all his belongings left undisturbed in the glacier for millennia.

This 5,300-year-old cold case has offered invaluable glimpses into the distant past. But the mystery of who exactly Ötzi was and why he was killed will probably never be solved—the tangible evidence for the act degraded and carried away, lost to snow drifts long ago.