When Helmut Simon and his wife, Erika, stumbled upon an odd sight during their hike of the Ötztal Alps on the Austrian-Italian border in September 1991, they chalked it up to being the remains of a lost mountaineer. They had come across the mummified corpse of a person half-entombed in the ice at an elevation of 10,530 feet. Local officials who followed up on the couple’s report carried out an initial examination of the remains and hypothesised that it was the body of an Italian soldier lost during one of the World Wars.
Little did they know that they were looking at one of the most famous prehistoric bodies ever to be found. The Iceman, who is fondly referred to as Otzi or Oetzi by scientists and netizens alike as an informal tribute to its place of discovery, has been determined to have perished in the Alps an astounding 5,300 years ago.
Uncanny Discovery
To date, scientists are amazed by the sheer luck at play that led to the amazing preservation of Otzi. Otzi succumbed to his death more than 5,300 years ago and his body fell into a small gully surrounded by large rocks. That same small gully happens to run perpendicular to the Niederjoch Glacier, and researchers have deduced that it filled up with snow immediately after Otzi’s death.
Gully in which Otzi was discovered
Such conditions allowed for Otzi to essentially be freeze-dried by extreme weather. These conditions removed most of the body’s water content prior to it being wholly frozen, which resulted in minimal deterioration of Otzi’s body and his artefacts. Further, as the glacier moved over the gully, the large rocks prevented its grinding base from moving or even crushing Otzi, thus enabling him to be entombed in the exact same position in solid ice for centuries.
One can just imagine the odds of Otzi falling into such a protective trench at the start of the Ice Age, which allowed him to be preserved in such an excellent state. More interestingly, luck also played a huge role in Otzi’s discovery. Firstly, Otzi’s final resting place was in a remote and desolate area, so the likelihood of anyone coming across his remains was very low. Secondly, the dust storms from the Sahara desert blowing across Europe caused an unusually hot summer which melted the ice just enough to expose Otzi in time for him to be discovered. Had Otzi remained undiscovered for much longer, the ice would have kept melting, thus causing his body to decompose rapidly.
The location of the discovery site of Otzi the Iceman. In terms of geography, Otzi was found in the Alps. In terms of modern political geography, he was found just inside the Italian border with Austria and not too far from Switzerland
Embroiled in Controversy
Before Otzi the Iceman could even be properly examined, he had already caused quite a number of disputes. The first was between Austria and Italy who both fought to lay claim to Otzi. Each argued that he was found within their respective locales. It was then determined by surveyors that the body was found in Italian territory.
Otzi being removed from the ice
The subsequent legal battles that ensued were related to the claim of who the “official finders” of Otzi were. To begin with, the Italian Government refused to pay the finder’s fees sought by the Simons. Then, in the midst of the Simons’ battle with the Italian Government, two other claimants came forward, declared that they had discovered the body first. One even alleged that she spat on Otzi intentionally at the time of her discovery so as to stake her claim.
The legal battles ended with the Simons being ruled as Otzi’s “official finders or discoverers” in 2005 and in 2008, the Italian Government agreed to an out-of-court settlement with the Simons.
Interesting Findings
Unlike other mummies which are brittle and dry with powdery bones that tend to crumble upon touch, Otzi is said to be in “fresh” condition with his flesh, bones and muscle intact. In addition, his organs are well preserved with an eye, brain and tongue still inside his skull as well as his heart, liver and lungs inside his body.
Otzi from the front
Otzi from the back
In fact, Otzi is an extremely rare find as experts deem freeze-desiccated mummies as the best pedigree of natural mummies which leaves a lot behind for researchers to investigate. This is largely because the freeze-drying process results in the removal of water from the body which in turn prevents the rupture and destruction of cells caused by the freezing of wet tissue.
A reconstruction of what Otzi may have looked like
Since his discovery, Otzi has been photographed, X-rayed, CT-scanned and even biopsied for DNA. Such scientific examination has not only revealed that Otzi likely died somewhere between 3239-3107 B.C. at the age of 45 but also had a whole host of health problems that plagued him during his lifetime – from Lyme disease, worn joints, hardened arteries, advanced gum disease to tooth decay, gallstones, dairy allergies, arsenic poisoning (likely from working with copper) to even a nasty growth on his little toe (perhaps caused by frostbite).
Furthermore, Otzi had anatomical abnormalities where he lacked both wisdom teeth and a 12th pair of ribs. Appearance-wise, Otzi is said to have had brown eyes and brown hair as well as a caddish gap between his two front teeth. Moreover, Otzi is believed to have been quite a wiry, sporty figure standing at 1.60 metres tall and weighing about 50kg when he was alive, as the mummy is 1.54 metres in length and weighs approximately 13kg.
Close up of one of the tattoos found on Otzi
Interestingly, Otzi also had about 50 different tattoos made with fine incisions on his body, namely near his ribcage and lumbar spine, on his wrist, knee, calves and ankles. Traces of charcoal were found on them.
Scientists have deduced that the charcoal likely served as a pain reliever. Given that the tattoo incisions were found on the acupuncture meridians of his body, some scientists also went on to suggest that this was evidence that acupuncture actually predates the Asian acupuncture tradition by at least 2000 years.
Another close up of one of the tattoos found on Otzi
Perfectly preserved in an Alpine glacier with artefacts that included his clothes, shoes and weapons, Otzi has afforded much insight into life in the region during the late Neolithic period, from how such prehistoric people lived to what they wore and even what they ate.
Otzi’s social standing during his lifetime remains an enigma, with different people coming up with different theories. He has been called a shepherd, a trader, a hunter, a mineral prospector, a fugitive and even a shaman; but to date, there isn’t a general consensus within the scientific fraternity as to Otzi’s social status. However, one thing which they pretty much agree on is that he hadn’t lived in a settlement for some time by taking into account the state of his equipment which had makeshift repairs.
Otzi’s clothing and shoe
Perhaps Otzi’s most intriguing legacy is that his bloodline lives on. With his well-preserved state, genetic testing was possible and scientists from Austria managed to isolate a rare genetic mutation in the 5,300–year-old mummy, one that only passes down through the male genetic line.
This led to the revelation that Otzi has at least 19 male descendants alive as of 2013 in Austria’s Tyrol region. It is believed that these numbers will increase as more testing is still underway with an expanded search of blood donors living in Italy and Switzerland.
Ancient Murder Victim
Initially, Otzi was thought to have succumbed to his injuries after being on the losing end of a violent confrontation where he sustained a deep arrow wound on his shoulder and a fatal blow to his head. From the pre- and post-mortem cuts, bruises and injuries as well as the analysis of the four different blood types found on Otzi and his artefacts, scientists believe that Otzi killed two of his pursuers before being tracked down by the rest. He is also believed to have been brutally murdered in his weakened state of exhaustion and starvation.
Close scrutiny of Otzi by the scientific fraternity
However, following a more detailed scan, scientists have realised that what they initially thought was Otzi’s empty stomach was actually part of his colon. His stomach, which had been pushed upwards under his ribs while he was in the ice, was full of ibex meat. This refuted the earlier theory involving a dramatic chase and starvation since the scan revealed that Otzi had eaten a large meal not more than an hour before his death. The scientists were also able to detect a blood-clotting protein called fibrin on Otzi’s arrow wound using nanotechnology. Since fibrin vanishes quickly in a working body, its presence proved that Otzi died very quickly after being shot instead of surviving the arrow wound for days.
Following this new evidence, it is now believed that Otzi was ambushed and shot sometime after his meal. The cause of death is still the blow to the head although there is no conclusive evidence as to whether the head injury was a result of being struck or from his fall after being shot by an arrow.
Artistic impression of Otzi’s murder
Cursed?
Along with the establishment of Otzi’s murder came the murmurings of a curse fanned by the uncanny deaths of seven people associated with his discovery. In addition to the mysterious circumstances of those deaths, Otzi’s grisly end lent more strength to the claim of a curse that could have been activated by Otzi’s removal from his final resting place.
The first death linked to the ‘curse’ was Rainer Henn, a forensic pathologist from the University of Innsbruck who died in a catastrophic car crash on his way to give a lecture on some of his findings concerning Otzi. He was one of the first scientists who worked on Otzi and in fact, he was the first to pry Otzi’s body, with his bare hands, from the ice to place it in a body bag.
Otzi with some of his artefacts
The second victim was Kurt Fritz, who was killed in a freak avalanche. He was the only member of his party to be struck by falling rocks during that avalanche and ironically, it occurred in a region he was supposedly familiar with. Fritz was the mountain guide who had led Henn to the body and was also one of the first to help uncover the body.
These two deaths were followed by the death of Rainer Hoelzl, who had filmed an exclusive documentary of Otzi’s removal from the ice which was broadcast internationally. He developed a mysterious illness, speculated to have been a brain tumour, within several months after the broadcast. It is spookily said that Hoelzl perished in extreme pain shortly thereafter.
Next on this trail of death was one of the official discoverers of Otzi, Helmut Simon. In October 2004, Simon went missing while on a hike on Austria’s Gaiskarkogel peak. After an intense search, his body was found eight days later, crumpled in a small stream, having fallen some 300 feet from a treacherous ledge after a sudden whipping blizzard swept through the area. Eerily, his body was found covered in ice much like Otzi.
The fifth victim, Dieter Warnecke, was the head of the mountain rescue team sent to look for Simon. He died of a heart attack mere hours after Simon’s funeral.
The sixth victim was Konrad Spindler, one of the first scientists to examine Otzi. His cause of death was complications connected to multiple sclerosis.
The final and perhaps the strangest of the deaths linked to the Iceman curse was that of Tom Loy, who insisted that he did not believe in curses and that it was all pure, wild superstition. Loy was the molecular archaeologist who had discovered four different types of blood on both the Iceman’s clothing and his weapons, which was a significant breakthrough pertaining to the riddle of Otzi’s death. Shortly after his involvement with Otzi, Loy was diagnosed with a rare hereditary blood condition. He died just prior to completing a book about Otzi.
Body of Cain, One of the Earliest Biblical Villains?
Artistic impression of Cain’s murder of Abel
Interestingly, there are some quarters which have drawn a link between Otzi and Cain, the first human villain from the Holy Bible. Cain, the firstborn of Adam and Eve murdered his own brother, Abel due to extreme jealousy. This rather controversial hypothesis is based largely on;
- the carbon dating of Otzi and the time frame of Cain’s life from historical biblical studies being extremely close, and
- the linking of Cain’s sevenfold curse as stated in the Holy Bible with the deaths of seven people associated with the discovery or study of Otzi within a relatively short period of time.
Conclusion
So, is this a case of people finding a pattern where there is none or is this a sign of some sinister force at play? The concept of cursed mummies is indeed intriguing and Otzi is by no means the first mummy to be associated with a curse. However, it is also worth noting that these deaths only totalled seven and many other individuals, probably hundreds, were involved with Otzi’s discovery and the subsequent research on his body and associated artefacts.
Are these just reflections of our fear of the unknown or are they in actuality the malevolent curses inherent in Otzi’s remains? At present, Otzi lies refrigerated in a technologically sophisticated chamber deep within South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy, and the curse for now, seems to be silent.
Otzi in his chamber at South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy
Sources/References:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96tzi
- http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/06/110623-iceman-mummy-otzi-meal-goat-stomach-science/
- http://news.discovery.com/history/otzi-face-reconstruction-110225.html
- https://books.google.com.my/books?id=liMIibqnklwC
- https://archaeology-travel.com/news/otzi-the-iceman-at-20/http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/archaeology/otzi_the_iceman_map.html
- BARONI, C. & OROMBELLI, G. (1996): Short paper – the alpine “Iceman” and Holocene Climatic Change.Quaternary Research 46: 78-83
- MAGNY, M. & HAAS, J.N. (2004): Rapid Communication – A major widespread climatic change around 5300 cal. yr BP at the time of the Alpine Iceman. Journal of Quaternary Science 19(5): 423-430
- OEGGL, K. (2009): The significance of the Tyrolean Iceman for the archaeobotany of Central Europe. Veget. Hist. Archaeobot. 18:1-11
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4409512.stm
- http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-11086027
- http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/08/070831-iceman-death.html
- http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/08/otzi-iceman-european-alps-mummy-clothing-dna-leather-fur-archaeology/
- http://www.nbcnews.com/id/31965532/ns/technology_and_science-science/
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The Iceman mummy, Otzi, was discovered amidst sheets of melting ice on the border between Italy and Austria, at an altitude of 3,200 m above sea level. The 5300-year-old world’s oldest wet mummy Iceman so special as is invaluable for archaeology and as well as for medical science, genetics, biology, anthropology, and many other disciplines. The nature of his life and the circumstances of his death are the subject of much investigation. That’s interesting discovery, the clothes he wore and equipment he carried are unique.The alleged curse revolved around the deaths of several people involved with the discovery, recovery and subsequent analysis of Otzi’s body. The legend continues and these days, Otzi the Iceman rests in a refrigerated room at the South Tyrol Archaeological Museum in Bolzano, Italy. Each year thousands of visitors visited his mummified remains contained in a special cold cell at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy.
Interesting read
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
shut up ya’ll are fucking gay to believe in this shit
I’ve read this be for, very interesting on how Otzi’ s removal from he’s final resting place could cause so many deaths. Its a very interesting that how he’s body is preserved over thousands and thousands of years and still in one piece. Thank you for sharing this spine chilling yet interesting article
If one is not inclined to believe in spirits and nether world, one might be inclined to go along the line of energies. The manner of Otzi’s death is pretty violent. And, his angry energy might have lingered int the ice and physical body which had not deteriorated much. These negative energy might have been dissipated to the 7 people. Anyway, it’s an uninformed theory. Whichever way, I believe that there is something happening there.
There was mention of tattoos on the meridian points. Was it a coincidence or is it evidence that these people knew about meridians and acupuncture points then? It might have come from the observation by their medicine man. But, why did they tattoo on the meridian points? Was it to help the person wearing the tattoos to know where to massage for different ailments and physical problems they may encounter far away from the medicine man?
Well modern man existed way before any of the Abrahamic religions established itself on earth. So to the people who said salvation resides only with their Gods, then prior to such Gods what happened to people that predated such Gods?
It is always amazing to discover ancient beings. And because it was so well preserved, we can learn bit more about how the people in the past lived, their height, looks, clothing. Always intriguing.
I always like to read more about such findings, giving such great insights, as to ancient tattoo versus modern day tattoos… do they put it on as decorative as what we do today, or very much as a tribal thing. Also on the acupuncture.. so many things we can learn from.
Thank you.
The Iceman Cometh! Hollywood to get the drift and make a movie, an epic, a biopic, including all the cursed deaths, if they are not afraid of the curse itself!
Ok they discovered a lyophilised body! ;))
But how do they confirm is that particular one they call Otzi from thousands of years ago? Hmmm, ok pinch of salt.
Oh but the curse is very real indeed, that many cannot be coincidental. Er, by reading this and watching videos, seeing pics of dear old Otzi, are we cursed too?
Time will tell…..
What I find interesting is the tattoo on the meridian points of the body. It’s amazing how they knew about these acupuncture points 5,300 years ago. There must have existed some advance civilisation that passed down this knowledge and somehow made it’s way to Asia much later. What we learn today in school about human evolution doesn’t match what is discovered. There is so much more that we are not aware of. This is only the tip of the iceburg.
The “curse” of the 7 people might be a result of spirit disturbances. Because the iceman, Otzi, was murdered, he may be unsettled and angersome in the form of a spirit.
Many of the findings are mostly theories that scientists come out with, and sometimes it is not 100% accurate. They would make assumptions and sometimes may even twist things a bit to make it more interesting to attract more attention.
Is it a curse? May be. May be the person who died and didn’t let go of the body and linger around for years, and when people finally touch the body and disturb the mind of the deceased, he become angry and started attacking the people. I cannot be sure, just speculating 🙂 Anyway, I wish Ozti have a good rebirth.
The discovery of Iceman or Otzi known to some is amazing,..Its extremely rare find as scientists said that how could a body or the mummified corpse of a person half-entombed in the ice for so long. Through their findings they found that the corpse death was a mystery ………was murdered .Its amazing part was that those scientists could even tell the cause of death and ,revealed what Otzi had eaten before his death.
Those scientists who involved doing research on Otzi died mysteriously making it a curse like.. Seven people associated with his discovery died….It..was,like stories i read regarding the discovery of mummies in Egypt. Otzi now lies refrigerated at museum in Bolzano, Italy, and since then nothing happen. Never disturbed them as its has been there many many years before.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing these interesting article.
From reading the article, it is apparent that Otzi is a big mystery on its own, from the uncanny sequence of unusual incidences taking place which culminated to his preservation and discovery to the enigma of his origins and death. However, the stranger mystery surrounding Otzi has to be the string of 7 consecutive strange deaths of the main people involved with his discovery. It is interesting that they draw a link to the biblical Cain and Abel as opposed to linking it more to the Egyptian like curse since the subject matter is the same, mummified remains. Perhaps linking it to the infamous curses of Egyptian royalties like King Tut would be harder to justify as there appear to be no more reported deaths in strange or mysterious circumstances (after the 7th one) despite people still dealing/examining Otzi. After all, the main theory of how such Egyptian mummy curse works is that it befalls on anyone who disturbs the eternal resting of those mummified. Maybe linking it to Cain and Abel’s sevenfold curse is easier to reconcile in comparison. Whatever the case maybe, is undeniable that the discovery of Otzi has enabled us to have a better glimpse into everyday life during the prehistoric age.
This is a really interesting article on finding Otzi who existed 5300 year ago. I was mesmerised by the story of how his body and moments of death was reconstruction to tell his story. I am always amazed by how forward Forensic Science is nowadays. Even though Otzi had been frozen for such a long time, the Scientists could account for the food he ate, how he was wounded, what he died from and most of all, his existing living descendants. Wondered if there were any interviews with his descendants on their thoughts of knowing Otzi was their ancestor.
With Otzi, one could only imagine what else will surface as the glaciers start melting due to the current Global Warming situation. With the Alps, Himalayans or mountains with very high altitude, many lives had been lost and I am sure that more will be revealed in the future. Not only our ancestors but historical creatures like dinosours, etc.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing such and interesting article and I would love to read more of what’s to come.
I am really curious about how and why the Otzi did 50 different tattoos on their body. Traces of charcoal were found and likely served as a pain reliever. If it is for religion purpose or protection, they have no choice but to accept the suffering to do it. Or it was probably a kind of method to identify the Otzi?
Thank you for the sharing which helps expand our view in this mysterious findings.
This is a compelling story, and I enjoyed reading it very much. The Curse of Otzi uncannily reminds me of the Curse of King Tut’s Tomb, which is supposedly the cause of death of numerous discovery members or visitors of the tomb. Many speculated the Curse of King Tut’s Tomb is unreal and sparks different theories to demystify it as a fable. But it is strangely not the case for Otzi. Instead, he is associated to Cain the firstborn of Adam and Eve. However, in my opinion, connecting Otzi to Cain is a far cry to try to explain the curse. It rivets me most about this article is reading through the different methods and thought-processes by scientists trying to reconstruct Otzi’s life base on the remains of his body and body content; e.g. stomach content, marking on his skin, etc. It is also fascinating to learn that Acupuncture Meridien already existed during those days. Thank you for this article.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this interesting article about Otzi. It is amazing how ice can preserved a body for so long with all the organs intact. From my point of view, it is not a curse but more like Otzi’s soul did not rest in peace. He was attacked before his death. He may have become a hungry ghost and harm those who touches his dead body. Otzi’s body should be left to rest in peace and no more test to be made.
With folded palms,
Vivian