Couple Discovers a Mysterious, 5,300-Year-Old Iceman While Hiking in the Alps

German hikers Helmut and Erika Simon made one of the biggest science discoveries of all time. And they did it totally by accident. So here’s how an average vacation changed when the couple discovered an ancient iceman in the Alps. But it all led to more questions than answers...

An Incredible Vacation

Back in the fall of 1991, German couple Helmut and Erika Simon had planned the vacation of a lifetime through the Otzal Alps. The area was known for its stunning landscape and snow-capped mountain pass.

 

Discovery in the Snow

[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] On Sept. 19, as the pair were on a hike, they went off the trail into an area with icy patches of ground. There, buried halfway in the ice, was the corpse of what the couple at first believed to be another hiker. 

 

The Body

The dead “hiker” was buried up to his chest. He was lying face-down, and his left arm was crossed under his body over to his right side. The discovery left the Simons shocked and confused.

 

Police Get Involved

The Simons rushed back to call the police and report the body. When authorities returned to the area where he had been found, they, too, assumed he had just been the victim of an unfortunate hiking accident.

 

Attempt to Excavate

[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] The police asked a lodge keeper nearby for help in excavating the body. Using a small jackhammer and ice axes, the group began the difficult task of trying to free the body from its icy prison.

 

Storm Rolls In

As the group continued to work on the excavation, a heavy storm set in over the area. Forced to find shelter, they returned to their task later on but were still unable to make any real headway. 

 

A New Strategy

The next day, eight teams of archaeologists and mountain climbers showed up at the site, eager to help with the excavation. Two more days passed before the body was finally able to be pulled from the ice.

 

Well-Preserved Corpse

[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] Once the body was freed from the ground, the focus switched to finding out who exactly he may have been. Because he had been buried in ice, he had been well-preserved, so trying to pinpoint a death date was going to be tricky.

 

Clothing and Tools

A second odd thing regarding the body was also discovered. His clothing wasn’t like something you’d pick up at your local mall. Instead, it was made from animal hides and woven grass, and he had tools and weapons unlike anything the group had seen.

 

The Body Gets a Nickname

The discovery of the frozen body made for quick headlines. Soon, people around the world became fascinated by the strange story. One reporter in Austria nicknamed the body “Otzi the Iceman,” after the area in which he had been found.

 

Taking Otzi to Be Examined

[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] The discovery team sent Otzi, along with his clothing and tools, to a morgue in Innsbruck, Austria. There, medical examiners began to run tests on him to get a better idea of where (or when) he actually came from.

 

Unbelievable Results

Konrad Spindler, an archaeologist at the University of Innsbruck, performed a modern autopsy on Otzi. What he and his team discovered once they ran tests on the body was that Otzi was actually 5,300 years old, his body dating back to the Bronze Age. 

 

“Wet” Mummy

Unlike the mummies of Ancient Egypt, Otzi’s body had been incredibly well-preserved. The reason behind it? The fact that he had been encapsulated in ice, which kept his skin and organs in nearly pristine condition. 

 

Otzi’s Backstory

[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] Scientists performed a barrage of tests on Otzi, including a CAT scan, hair analysis, tissue exam, and blood test. They discovered the 5-feet-5-inches, 84-pound man had been around 45 years old when he died in the Otzal Alps.

 

Secrets of Pollen

In his stomach, scientists found 30 different types of pollen. Once they were analyzed, scientists were able to tell not only which season Otzi died in, but also which mountain elevations he traveled through beforehand.

 

Bronze Age Ink

Because of the high level of preservation Otzi’s skin had experienced, scientists also discovered 61 tattoos over his entire body. But this ink was created by rubbing charcoal into cut lines and crosses, mostly on the iceman’s joints.

 

Early Early Medicine

[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] The discovery of Otzi’s joint tattoos led scientists to theorize that they could have been used for acupuncture. If that were the case, then Otzi would be proof of this alternative form of medicine well before its first known use in China 2,000 years later.

 

5300-Year-Old Profession

Copper and arsenic were found in high levels in Otzi’s hair. This, along with a copper ax blade found with the body made scientists believe that he had been a copper smelter while he was alive.  

 

Health Issues

Further testing on Otzi’s remains uncovered a number of various issues regarding his health — nearly 40, to be exact. And tests revealed that, in the last six months of his life, Otzi had been sick three times. 

 

Mild to Severe

[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] While many of Otzi’s ailments were fairly mild (turns out lactose intolerance was a thing 5,300 years ago too), some were pretty severe. On top of having an intestinal parasite called whipworm, he’d also suffered from Lyme disease.

 

Death Mystery

Still, no one could quite figure out Otzi’s exact cause of death. For an entire decade, theories were thrown around, ranging from death by disease to exposure to the harsh elements of the Otzal Alps.

 

A Question Answered (sort of)

In 2001, X-ray technology seemed to give an answer to the 10-year-old question surrounding Otzi’s death. It was revealed that an arrowhead had been lodged in his left shoulder, pointing to murder as his actual cause of death.

 

Who and Why

[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] Scientists now knew that Otzi had died after a shot to a vital artery caused him to bleed out. But they still had questions. Who killed him. And why? While they couldn’t find definitive answers, they did come up with some theories.

 

The Theories

Scientists speculated that Otzi could have been the victim of either a personal dispute or a ritual sacrifice. Detective Alexander Horn of the Munich Police believed that because Otzi had been buried with a number of items, including a copper ax, his death had been personal.

 

The Otzi Curse

Thirteen years after his initial discovery, Helmut Simon died during a hiking accident in the Austrian Alps. To date, the deaths of seven people have been attributed to Otzi, including an Alpine guide who had airlifted the body and a forensic expert who had touched him. Both died in strange accidents, leading many to believe that Otzi, like the mummies of Egypt, carried a curse.