This report will summarise the findings based on historical evidence and theories to explore the mystery of Otzi the Iceman. The iceman is one of the oldest mummies in the world and is also a ‘wet mummy’ which means humidity is retained in individual cells and as such the body tissue is elastic and therefore suitable for performing scientific investigations. The iceman is also a natural mummy having had no burial rites or any other intervention. There is mystery around the death of the iceman and also controversy when he was first found as to whether he was discovered on Austrian or Italian soil. It is very unique that a Neolithic man has been found preserved along with much of his clothing and possessions intact.

Location of Discovery
Otzi …show more content…
a) It was initially believed that Ötzi died from exposure during a winter storm. Later it was speculated that Ötzi may have been the victim of a ritual sacrifice for perhaps being a chieftain.
b) In 2001 X-rays and a CT scan revealed that Ötzi had an arrowhead lodged in his left shoulder when he died along with a matching small tear on his coat. The discovery of the arrowhead prompted researchers to theorize Ötzi died of blood loss from the wound.
c) Recent DNA analyses claim they revealed traces of blood from at least four other people on his gear: one from his knife, two from the same arrowhead, and a fourth from his coat. Interpretations of these findings were that Ötzi killed two people with the same arrow, and was able to retrieve it on both occasions, and the blood on his coat was from a wounded comrade he may have carried over his back. Ötzi's posture in death (frozen body, face down, left arm bent across the chest) could support a theory that before death occurred and rigor mortis set in, the Iceman was turned on to his stomach in the effort to remove the arrow