Otzi The Ice Man
What can we learn from Otzi about his life?
Ax:
Otzi was found with his ax. This is an important discovery because it's the only complete ax from the Copper Age to ever be found. The ax is about two feet long. The handle is made out of the trunk of a yew tree while the shaft is made from a branch. The blade is made out of copper and is fastened with a leather binding. Scientists were curious to see how this ancient ax compared to that of a modern day one. They discovered that the ancient ax required more effort to swing. Three swings from the ice man's ancient ax was equivalent to one swing from a modern day ax.
What Artifacts was Otzi found with?
What time period is Otzi from?
Clothing:
Otzi was wearing a jacket and pants made of animal skin. The sewing on these articles of clothing was expertly done which suggests that he came from a village where skilled people made clothes.
Shoes:
Otzi was also found with one grass shoe on his right foot. This is the oldest shoe every found. The upper part of the shoe is made from the dried inner bark from a lime tree, covered in deerskin and stuffed with hay. The shoe also had laces to keep out moisture. The sole of the shoe was made of bear skin and it was stitched together with a leather strap.
Since Otzi is around 5,300 years old, that means he is from around 3350 - 3300 BC. This time period is known as the Chalcolithic or Copper Age. This is the most recent period of the Central European Neolithic period. During this time period, humans discovered how to use raw metals as a material to make tools and jewelery. More specifically, they would use copper.
Otzi's Death
Other Tools:
Otzi was also found with a backpack, bow and arrows, a net for fishing, and a box made of tree bark which was filled with coals. This coal is probably from his campfires. Some of the coal is from wood that grows at a higher elevation, while some is from wood at a lower elevation. This suggests that Otzi made fires at many different locations.
What did Otzi look like?
Scientists determined that Otzi was around the age of 45 years old when he died. For prehistoric times, this was very old. He was about 5 feet and 2 inches tall. He had incredibily developed thigh and calf muscles which suggest that he was walking a lot. He was maybe even a hunter or shepherd. Various artists have used the information discovered about Otzi to make reconstructions of what he may have looked like.
The first face reconstruction was done by an anthropoligically trained artist, John Gurche in the early 1990s.
An updated reconstruction was done for the 20th anniversary of Otzi's discovery in 2011 by by Dutch artists Alfons and Adrie Kennis. This reconstruction is thought to be more accurate based on modern 3-D scans of Otzi's body.