The mummy
Ötzi is a wet mummy that was mummified naturally in the glacier ice. Due to the length of time it lay in the snow and ice, the body dehydrated, i.e. much of the body fluid was lost. Most mummies were treated with substances to preserve them as part of ritual burial after their organs had been removed. Ötzi is unique in that he has been preserved almost in his entirety.
Ötzi, the Iceman, Similaun Man, etc.
Following reports of the find by the international media, various names were coined for the mummy. Over 500 nicknames were mooted in the first few weeks. The Viennese journalist Karl Wendl dubbed him Ötzi, after the discovery site in the Ötztal Valley Alps, and this has become his most popular name today.
The mummy in the Museum
Since 1998, the mummy has been housed in a specially devised cold cell in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano. The cold cell simulates glacier conditions. The mummy weighs approximately 13 kg and is 1.54 m long. It lies on precision scales at -6°C and 99% humidity and is visible to the public through a small window. The mummy is regularly sprayed with sterile water to prevent loss of its natural moisture.
Ötzi – the world-renowned mummy in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology
The famous mummy is preserved in a special cold cell under glacier conditions and monitored with high-tech equipment
State of health
Since Ötzi is a wet mummy and his tissue, bones and organs are well preserved, numerous examinations have been carried out on him to learn more about his state of health when he was alive.
A few key data:
Age: Examination of the osteons (functional units of bone) in Ötzi’s femur (thigh bone) put his likely age to be around 45. This was a good age considering the short life expectancy 5300 years ago.
Height: The mummy is 1.54 m in length. In life, Ötzi must have been about 1.60 m tall. His shoe size would have been today’s equivalent of a continental 38 – the average for the population at the time.
Weight: The mummy weighs approx. 13 kg. In life, he would have weighed about 50 kg. Since there is very little subcutaneous fat on the body, he must have cut quite a wiry, sporty figure.
Hair: he epidermis (outer layer of the human skin) is quickly shed in the course of decomposition, and body hair is lost. A few clumps of hair were found around the body, indicating that Ötzi had dark, medium-long hair which he wore loose.
Nails: Ötzi’s fingernails and toenails fell off as he decomposed. During excavations, one fingernail and two toenails were retrieved. Horizontal grooves, or Beau’s lines, were observed on the fingernail – an indication of great physical stress.
Parasites and pathogens: Two human fleas were found in Ötzi’s clothing. Scientists also found the oldest evidence of borreliosis, or Lyme Disease, an infectious disease transmitted by ticks, in Ötzi’s DNA. The eggs of whipworm, an irritating intestinal parasite, were found in his digestive tract.
Ötzi is one of the best researched individuals in the world.
Numerous examinations have revealed information about his state of health.
Teeth: Ötzi’s teeth were badly worn, and there is a distinct diastema (gap) between his upper incisors, which is often inherited. The minerals in his teeth shed light on the composition of his drinking water and thus of where he lived as a child. Ötzi had no wisdom teeth.
Bones and joints: X-rays disclosed significant wear and tear of joints, including the hips, shoulders, knees and spine. His twelfth pair of ribs were missing – a rare genetic anomaly. Ötzi broke several bones during his lifetime, including several ribs and his nose.
Internal organs: Endoscopic examinations have shown that Ötzi’s lungs were soot-blackened due his to constant proximity to open fires. The contents of his stomach were also examined, revealing that his diet consisted of various types of game, grain and plants.
DNA: Ötzi’s genome has been almost completely decoded. His haplogroup (genetic population group) is very rare in modern-day Europe and is found almost exclusively among inhabitants of the islands of Sardinia and Corsica who were isolated for long periods. Ötzi was genetically predisposed to cardiovascular disease, which manifested itself in the form of arteriosclerosis. He was probably lactose intolerant, and his blood group was 0 positive.