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© South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology / Eurac / Marco Samadelli / Gregor StaschitzÖtzi the iceman
The new Iceman photoscan website lets you explore the body of the famous Alpine mummy in unprecedented detail. See some of the best images and find out how he lived and died

Ötzi the iceman

Ötzi is a mummified human discovered in 1991 in the Schnalstal glacier in the Alps, on the border between Austria and Italy. He died around 3300 BC.

The mummy offers a wealth of information about the humans living in Europe at the time. Ötzi was named after the Ötztal region where he was found.

The new Iceman photoscan website now gives all web users access to images of the body gathered by researchers. The site has a dynamic online-map-style interface to let people zoom into photographs that capture Ötzi from all angles and show details as small as 1 millimetre.

Lifestyle

It appears the iceman was a hunter. An examination of the contents of his gut revealed that he had recently eaten ibex goat and vegetables, followed by red deer and possibly a side order of grains.

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© South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology / Eurac / Marco Samadelli / Gregor Staschitz
Also, blood and hair on his tools came from wild goats and deer, suggesting that he had killed his own food.

How did he die?

One of the hardest questions to answer about Ötzi is how he died.

Early theories were that he had died from exposure, or was killed as part of a ritual sacrifice. There is good evidence that he was close to home, and the fact he was was unprepared for mountain trekking suggests that he was fleeing.

However, forensic examination of his body suggested a careful burial.

In 2001 an arrowhead found in Ötzi's shoulder provided another possible cause of death. The wound is visible at the very bottom of this picture, just left of the middle.

Another theory uses cuts on his right hand and wrist to argue he had been in a knife fight. However, this conclusion is strongly disputed by other experts.

The current consensus is that he died of a blow to the head.

Tattoos

Ötzi had several tattoos like these, resembling barcodes. The ones shown are on his lower back.

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© South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology / Eurac / Marco Samadelli / Gregor Staschitz
Unlike modern tattoos, they were made by first cutting lightly into his skin, and then rubbing charcoal into the incisions.

The tattoos may have been an early form of acupuncture, used to treat the iceman's arthritis.

Visit the Iceman photoscan site to explore his body for yourself.