When was iceman discovered

The basis for this conclusion was that a sloe was found near the ice mummy, and sloes ripen in late summer. The excavators of the site pointed in their report to the possibility that the mummy and the finds had been displaced by recurrent thaw and re-freezing processes. An important piece of independent evidence that this might be the case appeared in This time of year may be spring in the valley, but at m where he died, this is still winter.

Even considering the windswept ridge where the find lay, the gully would very likely have been covered in snow, perhaps deep snow. How could he have died down in the gully then?

They also believed that the mummy and the finds had been moved by recurrent thaw and re-freezing processes. However, the discussion again drew attention to the uncertainties associated with the natural processes on the site. This takes us to the next curious aspect of the find — the broken equipment. However, there may be a simpler and more natural explanation for the broken equipment and missing pieces. We learned from a careful analysis of our Lendbreen site is that there are a number of natural processes that affect artefacts lost on the surface of snow and ice.

The simple version is that the artefacts may displace from the original place of deposition, they may break into pieces and the broken pieces may scatter. Often artefacts go through all three processes. The snow and ice cover will melt away during very warm summers, and some of the artefacts originally lost on the ice and snow will melt into hollows below.

Such hollows are more protected from the elements and are more likely to preserve snow and ice over the summer, i. Artefacts that do not make it into such hollows are more likely to be lost over time, as they are more exposed.

The exposed artefacts gradually disappear, with wood and birch bark being the last materials to preserve. This pattern can be seen very clearly in the artefact distribution maps at Lendbreen. Pieces of wood and birch bark surround the edges of a large hollow with more favorable preservation conditions, where textiles, leather and horse dung are preserved.

Wood and birch bark are very durable, probably because they go through a natural conservation process of freeze-drying due to the cold and dry environment.

When the ice melts completely, the artefacts end up resting on the rock and stones below. This is not because they were originally lost there when there was no ice, but because the layer of ice and snow in-between melted away at some point.

During this process, meltwater and strong wind may disperse the artefacts. Once resting on the rocks, the artefacts may break into pieces, due to ice and snow pressure or trampling by animals.

After breaking into pieces, the individual fragments may be displaced by meltwater or strong winds. At Lendbreen, we have found fragments of the same artefact hundreds of meters apart. Many of the artefacts have parts missing. That does not mean that people brought these items into mountains in an already broken state. They were broken by natural processes on the site. The dispersed and broken equipment with missing pieces is likely to be a result of natural processes on the find spot, not a hasty flight.

When the snow and ice melted, his body and most parts of his equipment ended up a gully underneath. The missing small parts never made it into the gully, probably because they were displaced by meltwater and wind. Once melted down on to the bare terrain below, and snow and ice recovered the site. Are there any traces of the artefacts that did not make it into the gully?

Remarkably, there is, even though the excavation in did not extend outside the gully. He found very poorly preserved remains of a birch bark vessel underneath a stone just south of the gully, outside the excavated area. These remains turned out to be part of a better-preserved birch bark vessel recovered in the gully. The find is in complete accordance with the Lendbreen find circumstances. This piece did not make it into the gully, perhaps together with other artefacts and fragments of less durable materials, now lost.

It only survived because it was lying beneath a protecting stone. After freeze-drying on the surface of the snow, he and most of his belongings later entered into the gully as the snow and ice surrounding him melted away.

Snow and ice covered his resting place a short time after he died, sealing it off from the environment. Otherwise, the reasoning goes, the ice mummy and the artefacts would not have been preserved. As the ice built up, a glacier developed here. This type of preservation is at odds with the way other ice finds are preserved. Archaeological finds from the ice are mostly found in association with stagnant ice, i.

Non-moving ice can be found in isolated ice patches and in non-moving ice fields attached to moving glaciers. In , a study was published suggesting that the mummy might owe its exceptional preservation to a proper burial and the equipment might not be a mountain survival kit, but rather what was needed for a yet more arduous trip—the voyage to the otherworld.

These findings paved the way for a comprehensive alternative interpretation. This interpretation accounts for many anomalies, such as the unexplained mode of preservation of the body, unfinished arrows, shoes unsuitable for climbing, and the cumbersome equipment he supposedly carried. Almost universal agreement indicates that the mummy is not an artifact of human action, like Egyptian Dynastic mummies. The mummy is much better preserved than more recent bodies found in similar glaciers, underscoring its importance.

Aeolian desiccation may be due to natural or intentional processes. To keep him publicly viewable while minimizing risk of damage and decay is a demanding and costly challenge. Healed injuries, such as a hand dagger wound and the fatal arrow shot, possibly coupled with a blow to the head, suggest regular warfare and imply the use of different weapons.

Daily village life is suggested by ingested cereals, possible cheese residues, and pottery grains mixed in the food, as well as by goat and cattle skin in the associated garments. However, the last meat he ate came from hunted deer and ibex, wild animals that had contributed to other parts of his dress.

He also wore a cap likely made of bearskin. The stone and copper components of these objects precisely match those found in the contemporary graves of the floodplain, but most striking are the preserved, highly refined garments. The care with which various animal skins of contrasting colors were selected and matched and the elaboration and coordination of the attire point to a complex encoding of role and personal identity.

Growing abstraction of power roles might have been a side-effect of the evolution of increasingly formalized political institutions. Over artifacts were scattered around the site where the Iceman was found, including these tools and weapons.

Other Icemen? Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Share Flipboard Email. Jennifer Rosenberg. History Expert. Jennifer Rosenberg is a historian and writer who specializes in 20th-century history. Updated January 04, Featured Video. Cite this Article Format. Rosenberg, Jennifer. Otzi the Iceman. Copper Facts: Chemical and Physical Properties.

See the Important Neolithic Sites in Europe. Scattered bits of leather, plant fiber, animal hide, string, his ax and an unfinished bow were found near him when he was first dug out of the ice. In fact, archaeologists were able to reconstruct the iceman's wardrobe , which consisted of a cloak, leggings, a belt, a loincloth, a bearskin cap and even shoes. The latter were made out of deer hide stretched on a string netting and were insulated with grass.

Archaeologists also found a leather pouch containing a tinder fungus, a scraper, a boring tool, a bone awl and a flint flake. Unlike modern tattoos, these were not made with a needle; instead, fine incisions were made on his skin, and the resulting wound was filled with charcoal. Researchers do not think the tattoos were decorative; rather, they might have served a little-understood therapeutic or medical purpose, perhaps a form of primitive acupuncture.

Researchers speculated as to whether he had fallen into a crevasse, died of exposure to the elements or had simply lost his footing on the treacherous ice and tumbled to his death. The first injury consisted of a flint arrowhead embedded in his left shoulder, a detail that was picked up during an X-ray originally conducted in , as reported by Scientific American.

The second injury was a severe head wound, possibly from a blunt object. At first, researchers debated which injury might have caused his death. But a study published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface revealed that the arrow was the main cause of death. It's possible that he suffered the head wound at the same time as the arrow wound or afterward, Live Science previously reported.

Why he was killed, however, remains a mystery.