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Iceman/Ötzi, reconstructed 3300 BC mummy, South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, Bolzano, Italy, Europe

In the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy, a reconstruction shows the famous Iceman at age 45. Ötzi dates from 3300 BC and is Europe's oldest natural human mummy. The Iceman was found in 1991 fully clothed, melted out from a glacier in the Ötzal Alps, Europe. The 5000-year-old Iceman was apparently murdered at age 45 by an arrowhead lodged in his left shoulder. His copper axe pushed back the Bronze Age by 1000 years. The Iceman's tools were a delight for archeologists: a copper axe with a yew handle, a flint-bladed knife with an ash handle, a quiver of 14 arrows (with viburnum and dogwood shafts, two with fletching fins and tipped with flint), an antler tool for sharpening arrow points, an unfinished yew longbow 1.82 meters (72 in) long, a bow string, berries, two birch bark baskets, two species of polypore mushrooms strung on leather (for medicinal and tinder use), and a complex firestarting kit (with pieces of a dozen different plants plus flint and pyrite to make sparks). His valuable 9.5-centimeter axe head is almost pure copper, made by casting, cold forging, polishing, and sharpening. His copper axe's handle (haft) is 60 centimetres (24 in) long and made from carefully worked yew. Anthropologists were surprised at the sophistication of Ötzi's clothes, including: a woven grass cloak, a coat, a belt with tool pouch (scraper, drill, flint flake, bone awl and a dried fungus), a pair of leggings, a loincloth and shoes, all made of leather of different skins sewn together with sinew, plus a bearskin cap with a leather chin strap. His shoes were waterproof and wide for snow, made with bearskin soles, deer hide on top panels, plus netting made of tree bark. Soft grass cushioned the foot like modern socks. View the actual frozen mummy and possessions of Ötzi in Bolzano, the Dolomites, in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol (South Tyrol) region of Italy, Europe.

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Filename
13ITA2-7087.jpg
Copyright
© Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com
Image Size
5000x7500 / 6.2MB
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Contained in galleries
ALPS: favorites (FRANCE, ITALY, SLOVENIA, SWITZERLAND), ITALY: Dolomites: Rosengarten / Catinaccio Group, Bolzano, ITALY: favorites
In the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy, a reconstruction shows the famous Iceman at age 45. Ötzi dates from 3300 BC and is Europe's oldest natural human mummy. The Iceman was found in 1991 fully clothed, melted out from a glacier in the Ötzal Alps, Europe. The 5000-year-old Iceman was apparently murdered at age 45 by an arrowhead lodged in his left shoulder. His copper axe pushed back the Bronze Age by 1000 years. The Iceman's tools were a delight for archeologists: a copper axe with a yew handle, a flint-bladed knife with an ash handle, a quiver of 14 arrows (with viburnum and dogwood shafts, two with fletching fins and tipped with flint), an antler tool for sharpening arrow points, an unfinished yew longbow 1.82 meters (72 in) long, a bow string, berries, two birch bark baskets, two species of polypore mushrooms strung on leather (for medicinal and tinder use), and a complex firestarting kit (with pieces of a dozen different plants plus flint and pyrite to make sparks). His valuable 9.5-centimeter axe head is almost pure copper, made by casting, cold forging, polishing, and sharpening. His copper axe's handle (haft) is 60 centimetres (24 in) long and made from carefully worked yew. Anthropologists were surprised at the sophistication of Ötzi's clothes, including: a woven grass cloak, a coat, a belt with tool pouch (scraper, drill, flint flake, bone awl and a dried fungus), a pair of leggings, a loincloth and shoes, all made of leather of different skins sewn together with sinew, plus a bearskin cap with a leather chin strap. His shoes were waterproof and wide for snow, made with bearskin soles, deer hide on top panels, plus netting made of tree bark. Soft grass cushioned the foot like modern socks. View the actual frozen mummy and possessions of Ötzi in Bolzano, the Dolomites, in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol (South Tyrol) region of Italy, Europe.
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