The corpse has been extensively examined, measured,
X-rayed, and dated. Tissues and intestinal contents have been examined microscopically, as have the items found with the body. In August 2004, the frozen bodies of three
Austro-Hungarian soldiers killed during the
Battle of San Matteo (1918) were found on the mountain
Punta San Matteo in
Trentino. One body was sent to a museum in the hope that research on how the environment had affected its preservation would help unravel Ötzi's past.
Body By the most recent estimates, at the time of his death, Ötzi was tall, weighed about , and was about 45 years of age. When his body was found, it weighed . Because the body was covered in ice shortly after his death, it had only partially deteriorated. Initial reports claimed that his
penis and most of his
scrotum were missing, but this was later shown to be unfounded. Analysis of pollen, dust grains and the
isotopic composition of his
tooth enamel indicates that he spent his childhood near what is now the South Tyrol village of
Feldthurns, north of
Bolzano, but later went to live in valleys about farther north. In 2009, a
CAT scan revealed that the stomach had shifted upward to where his lower lung area would normally be. Analysis of the contents revealed the partly digested remains of
ibex meat, confirmed by
DNA analysis, suggesting he had had a meal less than two hours before his death. Wheat grains were also found. It is believed that he most likely had a few slices of a dried, fatty meat, which came from a
wild goat in South Tyrol, Italy. Analysis of his intestinal contents showed two meals (the last one consumed about eight hours before his death), one of
chamois meat, the other of
red deer and herb bread; both were eaten with roots and fruits. The grain also eaten with both meals was a highly processed
einkorn wheat bran, possibly bread. In the proximity of the body, and thus possibly originating from the Iceman's provisions, chaff and grains of einkorn and
barley, and seeds of
flax and
poppy were discovered, as well as kernels of
sloes (small plum-like fruits of the blackthorn tree) and various wild berry seeds.
Hair analysis was used to examine his diet in the months preceding his death. Pollen in the first meal showed that it had been consumed in a mid-altitude
conifer forest. Other pollens indicated the presence of wheat and
legumes, which may have been domesticated crops. Pollen grains of
hop-hornbeam were also discovered. The pollen was very well preserved, with the cells inside remaining intact, indicating that it had been fresh (estimated about two hours old) at the time of Ötzi's death, which places the event in the spring or early summer. Einkorn wheat is harvested in the late summer, and
sloes in the autumn; these must have been stored from the previous year. High levels of
copper and
arsenic were found in his hair. This, along with his copper axe blade, which is 99.7% copper, has led scientists to speculate that he was involved in copper
smelting. By examining the proportions of his
tibia,
femur and
pelvis, it was postulated that his lifestyle included long walks over hilly terrain. This degree of mobility is not characteristic of other Copper Age Europeans. This may indicate that he was a high-altitude shepherd. Using modern
3D scanning technology, a facial reconstruction has been created for the
South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology. It shows the Iceman looking old for his 45 years, with deep-set brown eyes, a beard, a furrowed face, and sunken cheeks. He is depicted as tired and ungroomed.
Health Ötzi had
Trichuris trichiura (whipworm), an intestinal
parasite. During CT scans, it was observed that three or four of his right ribs had been cracked when he had been lying face down after death, or where the ice had crushed his body. One of his fingernails (of the two found) shows three
Beau's lines, indicating he was sick three times in the six months before he died. The last incident, two months before he died, lasted about two weeks. It was also found that his
epidermis, the outer skin layer, was missing, a natural process from his mummification in ice. Ötzi's teeth showed considerable internal deterioration from cavities. These oral pathologies may have been brought about by his grain-heavy, high-carbohydrate diet. DNA analysis in February 2012 revealed that Ötzi was
lactose intolerant, supporting the theory that lactose intolerance was still common at that time, despite the increasing spread of agriculture and dairying. Ötzi's lungs were examined endoscopically and were found to be blackened by soot, probably due to his frequent proximity to open fires for warmth and cooking.
Skeletal details and tattooing Ötzi had a total of 61
tattoos. They consisted of 19 groups of black lines ranging from in width and in length. These include groups of parallel lines along the longitudinal axis of his body and to both sides of the
lumbar spine, as well as a
cruciform mark behind the right knee and on the right ankle, and parallel lines around the left wrist. The greatest concentration of markings is found on his legs, which together exhibit 12 groups of lines. A microscopic examination of samples collected from these tattoos revealed that they were created from pigment manufactured out of fireplace ash or soot. In 2024, a research team experimented with different possible paleolithic tattooing techniques and concluded that Ötzi's tattoos were most consistent with a puncture tattooing technique, probably with a bone point or copper awl, rather than an incision-based technique as previously speculated. It has been suggested that he was repeatedly tattooed in the same locations, since the majority of them are quite dark. These tattoos may have been part of pain relief treatments similar to
acupressure or
acupuncture, Of the 19 groups of tattoos present, nine are located next to, or directly on, acupunctural areas used today, and most of the others are on
meridians and other acupunctural regions and over arthritic joints. Ötzi's abdominal tattoos may have assuaged the intestinal pain caused by his whipworm infection. At one point, it was thought that Ötzi was the oldest tattooed human mummy yet discovered. In 2018, however, tattoos were discovered on nearly contemporaneous Egyptian mummies. Many of Ötzi's tattoos originally went unnoticed, since they are difficult to see with the naked eye. In 2015, researchers photographed the body using noninvasive
multispectral techniques to capture images on light wavelengths imperceptible to humans, revealing the remainder of his tattoos. The shoes have since been reproduced by a Czech academic, who said that "because the shoes are actually quite complex, I'm convinced that even 5,300 years ago, people had the equivalent of a
cobbler who made shoes for other people". The reproductions were found to constitute such excellent footwear that a Czech company reportedly offered to purchase the rights to sell them. However, a more recent hypothesis by British archaeologist
Jacqui Wood posits that Ötzi's shoes were actually the upper part of
snowshoes. According to this theory, the item currently interpreted as part of a backpack is actually the wood frame and netting of one snowshoe and animal hide to cover the face. The leather loincloth and hide coat were made from sheepskin. Genetic analysis showed that the sheep species was nearer to modern domestic European sheep than to wild sheep; the items were made from the skins of at least four animals. Part of the coat was made from a domesticated goat belonging to a mitochondrial
haplogroup (a common female ancestor) that inhabits central Europe today. The coat was made from several animals from two different species and was stitched together using hides. The leggings were made from domesticated goat leather. A similar set of 5,000-year-old leggings discovered in
Schnidejoch,
Switzerland, were made from goat leather as well. Irish and Italian researchers were able to undertake an analysis of the mitochondrial DNA from six different items of the body's clothing and published their findings in the journal
Scientific Reports. These showed that the shoelaces were made from the European genetic population of cattle. The quiver was made from wild
roe deer, and the fur hat was made from a genetic lineage of
brown bear which lives in the region today.
Tools and equipment Other items found with the Iceman were a copper axe with a
yew handle, a
chert-bladed
knife with an
ash handle and a
quiver of 14 arrows with
viburnum and
dogwood shafts. Two of the arrows, which were broken, were tipped with flint and had
fletching (stabilizing fins), while the other 12 were unfinished and untipped. The arrows were found in a
quiver with what is presumed to be a
bow string, an unidentified tool, and an
antler tool which might have been used for sharpening arrow points. There was also an unfinished yew
longbow that was long. Among Ötzi's possessions were
berries, two
birch bark baskets, and two species of
polypore mushrooms with leather strings through them. One of these, the
birch fungus, is known to have
anthelmintic properties, and was probably used for medicinal purposes. The other was a type of
tinder fungus, included with part of what appeared to be a complex
firelighting kit. The kit featured pieces of over a dozen different plants, in addition to flint and
pyrite for creating sparks. Ötzi's copper
axe was of particular interest. His axe's
haft is long and made from carefully worked
yew with a right-angled crook at the shoulder, leading to the blade. The axe head is almost pure copper. It was produced through
casting and did not undergo mechanical hardening. Though copper ore sources in the Alpines are known to have been exploited in Ötzi's time, a 2017 study indicated that the copper in the axe came from southern
Tuscany. It was let into the forked end of the crook and fixed there using
birch-tar and tight leather
lashing. The blade part of the head extends out of the lashing and shows clear signs of having been used to chop and cut. Such an axe would have been a valuable possession, important both as a tool and as a
status symbol. A new, high-coverage genome with much less modern human contamination was published in 2023. According to the 2012 study, the
Y chromosome DNA of Ötzi belongs to a
subclade of G defined by the
SNPs M201, P287, P15, L223 and L91 (G-L91, ISOGG G2a2b, former "G2a4"). He was not typed for any of the subclades downstreaming from G-L91; however, an analysis of his
Binary Alignment Map file revealed that he belongs to the L166 and FGC5672 subclades below L91. G-L91 is now mostly found in South
Corsica. Analysis of his mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) showed that Ötzi belongs to the K1 subclade, but cannot be categorized into any of the three modern branches of that subclade (K1a, K1b, or K1c). The new subclade has provisionally been named
K1ö for
Ötzi. A multiplex assay study was able to confirm that the Iceman's mtDNA belongs to a previously unknown European mtDNA clade with a very limited distribution among modern data sets. By
autosomal DNA, Ötzi is most closely related to
Southern Europeans, especially geographically isolated populations like
Corsicans and
Sardinians. Ötzi traced the majority of his ancestry to the Neolithic
early European farmers who
migrated from Anatolia to Europe beginning during the 7th millennium BC, replacing earlier
European hunter-gatherers as dominant population. DNA analysis also showed him at high risk of
atherosclerosis and
lactose intolerance, with the presence of the
DNA sequence of
Borrelia burgdorferi, possibly making him the earliest known human with
Lyme disease. A later analysis suggested the sequence may have been a different
Borrelia species. The 2023 study on Ötzi's genome found a very high proportion (90%) of
Anatolian farmer-related ancestry – in fact, the highest among European populations of the same time—with a lesser contribution from
European hunter-gatherer-related ancestry, but (in contrast to the 2012 research) no evidence of
Steppe-related ancestry, the disagreement with previous results being attributed to modern human contamination. While the absence in Ötzi's genome of genetic components from Western Steppe Herders (WSH) is not surprising because these
"Proto-Indo-European" populations
did not arrive in Europe until about 2900 BC, the unusually low contribution from the
Western Hunter Gatherers was explained by positing that the genetic mixing between neolithic farmers originating from Anatolia and WHG was still an ongoing process. Examining the genetic sites involved in phenotypical traits, the authors concluded that the Iceman likely had darker skin than present-day Europeans (though not as dark as the Mesolithic Western Hunter-Gatherers), was likely affected by baldness, and may have suffered from obesity-related metabolic disorders. The article also leaves room for environmental factors as indicative of their darker skin complexion, so more studies will be necessary in the future.
Blood In May 2012, scientists announced the discovery that Ötzi still had intact
blood cells. These are the oldest complete human blood cells ever identified. In most bodies this old, the blood cells are either shrunken or mere remnants, but Ötzi's have the same dimensions as living red blood cells and resemble a modern-day sample.
H. pylori analysis In 2016, researchers reported on a study from the extraction of twelve samples from the
gastrointestinal tract of Ötzi to analyze the origins of the
Helicobacter pylori in his gut.
Stomach Ötzi's stomach was completely full and its contents were mostly undigested. In 2018, researchers thoroughly analysed his stomach and intestines to gain insights on Chalcolithic meal composition and dietary habits.
Biopsies were performed on the stomach to obtain dietary information in the time leading up to his death, and the contents themselves were also analyzed. Previously, Ötzi was believed to be vegetarian, but during this study, it was revealed that his diet was omnivorous. The presence of certain compounds suggests what kinds of food he generally ate, such as
gamma-terpinene, implying the intake of herbs, and several nutritious minerals indicating red meat or dairy consumption. Through analysis of DNA and protein traces, the researchers were able to identify the contents of Ötzi's last meal, composed of fat and meat from
ibex and red deer as well as
einkorn wheat. The results of
atomic force microscopy and
Raman spectroscopy analysis reveal that he consumed fresh or dried wild meat. A previous study detected charcoal particles in his lower intestine, which indicate that fire was present during some part of the food preparation process, but it was likely used in drying out the meat or smoking it.
After death Analysis shows that the tissues had converted to
adipocere, a mixture of
fatty acids, before desiccation. Rather than ice, the body had been in water for months over several seasons. ==Cause of death==