Otzi The Iceman

Roughly 5,000 years ago, Ötzi, the Iceman, was murdered on the Ötztal Alps due to stealing a copper axe from another civilization close to his. Recently, scientists have found key evidence inside and outside Ötzi’s body supporting this claim. Initially scientists thought he had frozen to death in the harsh weather; however, in 2001 an X-ray examination revealed an arrowhead was lodged in Ötzi’s left shoulder, that eventually lead to his demise. One of the four individuals who fought Ötzi pulled the arrow shaft out of his shoulder to avoid suspicion. The position of the arrowhead in his left shoulder, and the spot relative to where he died baffled the scientists. An experienced hunter had to have taken the shot based on elevation
and wind patterns on the mountain; along with the fact that all prehistoric hunters aimed for the artery in the general area of where Ötzi was targeted. Damage to the artery by the left shoulder resulted in instant gushing of blood and lose of oxygen to the body giving the Iceman a few minutes of life left. Another key piece of evidence, the cuts on his hands are seen by X-ray examination and support the idea of a struggle between Ötzi and his attackers sent to retrieve the copper axe. In 2004, Tom Leroy ran an experiment on the Iceman’s cuts revealing four different individuals on his garments and weapons. Tom Leroy of Queensland University in Brisbane, Australia, says, “That in addition to the arrow wound in his shoulder, he has wounds on his hands and wrist that are typical of someone fending off an attack,”(Rose, Mark “Ötzi’s Last Stand,” pg. 5). Further evidence of a struggle between the Iceman and multiple people attacking him is found in his stomach and colon.
Before being ambushed by his attackers on the mountainside, Ötzi’s stomach contained signs of sloes, bread, and deer meat from the meal he ate not too long ago. What caught scientists off guard, was the food wrapped in mosses inside of the Iceman’s stomach. Ötzi unintentionally swallowed the mosses on his food not knowing that they were there. Even for a prehistoric man, mosses weren’t very nutritious nor tasty; which shows signs of Ötzi being in a rush from people. Ötzi was well equipped for an animal attack so it would rule out that possibility. Inside of the Iceman’s colon, Dr. Dieter Zur Nedden, the radiologist who examined Ötzi’s colon, noticed something very peculiar. A slight bulge of food contaminated with pollen found from the higher portion of the mountain to the lower portion of the mountain was discovered and Dr. Eguard Egarter Vigl extracted the thirty different pollen samples. Dr. Eduard Egarter Vigl recalled the instructions Dr. Nedden gave to him in order to extract the pollen carefully, “Here is the fracture, it shouldn’t be a problem. Open the chest here and take out the piece. It should only take 20 minutes.” (Dr. Dieter Zur Nedden and Dr. Eduard Egarter Vigl, Iceman Testimony, pg. 3). Trace amounts of pollen found from higher elevations to lower elevations is consistent with traveling from one area to another frequently in the past eight
hours. Two more very important pieces of evidence are in favor of a struggle between the Iceman and his attackers for the copper axe. A computed tomography scan, (CT scan) discovered serious bleeding to the base of the brain consistent with brain trauma by blunt object. Ötzi suffered a serious head injury right before he died. Now that researchers and scientists realized Ötzi was killed by the arrowhead and blunt trauma to the head, they looked to his possessions. Artifacts found on Ötzi: most importantly the copper axe, a flint dagger, two completed arrows with stone heads, twelve unfinished arrow shafts, and common prehistoric clothing. This speaks to motive for murder. So the attackers weren't figured out by Ötzi’s community, they kept the copper axe with him to make it look like he died from exhaustion and hypothermia. Although the attackers would have prefered to keep the prized possession, their lives would be important. Egarter Vigl, believes that the attackers pulled out the fatal arrow to destroy evidence, only to snap the arrow shaft in two pieces. Many conclusions may be drawn about why Ötzi was killed, but there is only one that is proven by physical evidence collected by researchers and scientists in a combined effort. The Iceman was hunted down by hunters from another community close to his because he stole their sacred copper axe.