Oetzi Iceman Biography

The prehistoric mountaineer known as the Oetzi (Ötzi) Iceman was discovered at a height of 3200 meters (more than 10,000 feet) in the Tyrolean Alps on 19 September 1991.

The frozen body was remarkably well preserved and still clad in primitive clothing, including an animal hide coat and grass cape.

The body was claimed by Austrian scientists, who determined that he was a Bronze Age man who lived around 3300 B.C. The Iceman was first housed at the University of Innsbruck, but after agreeing that the body was actually found a few meters inside Italian territory, the Austrians transferred the body to Italian care in 1998.

The Oetzi Iceman then went on display in a special refrigerated case in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy.

In 2001 scientists announced that the Iceman probably died from wounds inflicted by an arrowhead found in his left shoulder, a theory that seemed to be confirmed after more analysis in 2015.

A report published in 2012 outlined the results of Oetzi’s genome mapping, which indicated he was mostly European. Other things known about him: his full stomach indicated an omnivorous diet; his clothes indicated domestic European goats and sheep; his shoes and shoelaces were more sophisticated than expected; and blood samples that aren’t his possibly came from foes — perhaps even his killer or killers.

A 2023 report after a more detailed DNA analysis showed that Oetzi was probably dark-skinned and bald.