Was the Neolithic Tyrolean Iceman,“Ötzi” a shepherd (original) (raw)
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The significance of the Tyrolean Iceman for the archaeobotany of Central Europe
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 2009
This paper reviews the archaeobotanical research conducted on the plant material recovered from the Iceman 0 s body, his garment and equipment, as well as that from the sediments of the gully in which the body was discovered more than 15 years ago. These recent results are discussed against the background of the archaeological findings during the last few years and disclose both conformities and discrepancies of the disciplinary-centred views. In particular the archaeobotanical results concerning the season of death as well as the taphonomic interpretation of the find assemblage give cause for controversial discussions and constitute the future research focus. Furthermore, the singularity of this discovery demands an evaluation of the archaeobotanical findings within a circum-alpine context to reveal the representativeness of this find assemblage for the inner alpine Neolithic. This was the objective of a specific symposium at the 17th International Botanical Congress in Vienna in 2005.
Quaternary Science Reviews, 2007
The investigations of the Tyrolean Iceman ''Ö tzi'' and his artefacts, discovered at a remote location high in the Eastern Alps, have contributed greatly to the knowledge of the lifestyle of Neolithic humankind. However, the events immediately prior to the Iceman's death have remained unclear and even the recently discovered arrowhead in his back does not explain conclusively the cause of death satisfactorily. From the pollen and macrofossil content of his gut, we reconstruct his travels just before his demise. Sequential sampling of the food residues in the digestive tract of the 5200 year old glacier mummy has made possible the analyses of a series of meals and, from the pollen content, the deduction of the environments in which the last meals were eaten. During his last 33 or so hours, Ö tzi crossed different habitats in the Ö tztal mountains over considerable distances from high up near the timber line (at about 2500 m), to low down in the zone of warmth-loving trees (about 1200 m or less), and finally very high in the zone of perennial ice (above 3000 m). These final journeys lend new weight to the ''disaster'' theory of Ö tzi's death, which suggests that, returning from the high alpine pastures to his native village, he came into a severe conflict with his kin such that he had to flee from the community back to the high ground familiar to him, where he died. r
New aspects to the diet of the Neolithic Tyrolean Iceman “Ötzi“
Journal of Biological Research - Bollettino della Società Italiana di Biologia Sperimentale, 1970
Three surgical interventions on the Tyrolean Iceman “Ötzi” conducted in 1995, 1997 and 2000 resulted in the collection of five ingesta samples. These samples constitute a sequence from different consecutive locations of the intestinal tract: the ileum, the transverse and descendent colon, as well as the rectum. The samples encompass at least three different meals consumed of the Iceman during his last two days, which is shown by numerical analysis of the pollen flora and muscle fibres incorporated in the different ingesta samples. The macro and pollen analyses of these samples reveal that the Iceman consumed a well balanced omnivore diet. Surprising is the strong correlation between bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) spores and human whipworm (Trichuris trichiura) eggs as well as wheat (Triticum) pollen. This indicates an intentional consumption of bracken as anthelminthic or as starch plant.
Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 2009
The discovery of a Neolithic glacier mummy (dated to 3300-3100 cal B.C.) on a remote site of an Alpine pass at 3,200 m in the Ö tztal Mountains is still puzzling. In the initial phase of the Iceman research, four hypotheses were suggested to explain the find in its entirety. The speculations vary from a hunter or warrior to a shaman, a miner or a shepherd. None of these proposals is accepted or corroborated by archaeological findings, but on the basis of palynological investigations conducted in the vicinity of the discovery site the assumption that the Iceman was involved in an early form of transhumance has now gained general acceptance. Concerning this assumption we present in this paper a recent study conducted on about a hundred caprine (sheep/goat or ibex/chamois) dung pellets recovered from the find spot of the Iceman and which were dated from 5400 to 2000 cal B.C. The approach was to determine through plant remains from these faeces whether they were droppings derived from animals grazing in anthropogenic habitats at low altitudes or in alpine grasslands. The former case would suggest they were livestock, the latter game. The results showed that all droppings derive from animals grazing at high altitudes.
The stone age iceman from the Alps: The find and the current status of investigation
Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 2005
On September 19, 1991, a body protruding from glacial ice was discovered in the Alps between Austria and Italy. Considered a forensic case, and having been found on Austrian soil according to initial information, it was transported to the Department of Forensic Medicine in Innsbruck. Rumors about the body not being recent were readily confirmed, and news about the body and accompanying equipment immediately spread all over the world. The body itself was shown to be a natural mummy, as opposed to a corpse that has been embedded in glacial ice for some time, where soft tissue generally changes into grave wax (adipocere). The mummy was male and was remarkably well preserved. The preserved condition of his equipment and some organic material was astonishingly good. Isotope dating of the body by means of the 14C method has given an age of about 3,300 BC, or Late Stone Age. A survey of the border, however, revealed that the body was found just on the Italian side (within the autonomous pr...
PLoS ONE, 2019
The Iceman site is unique in the bryology of the Quaternary. Only 21 bryophytes (mosses and liverworts) grow now in the immediate vicinity of the 5,300 year old Iceman discovery site at 3,210m above sea level in the Ötztal Alps, Italy. By contrast 75 or more species including at least ten liverworts were recovered as subfossils frozen in, on and around the Iceman from before, at and after his time. About two thirds of the species grow in the nival zone (above 3,000m above sea level) now while about one third do not. A large part of this third can be explained by the Iceman having both deliberately and inadvertently carried bryophytes during his last, fatal journey. Multivariate analyses (PCA, RDA) provide a variety of explanations for the arrivals of the bryophytes in the rocky hollow where the mummy was discovered. This is well into the nival zone of perennial snow and ice with a very sparse, non-woody flora and very low vegetation cover. Apart from the crucial anthropochory (extra-local plants), both hydrochory (local species) and zoochory (by wild game such as ibex of both local and extra-local species) have been important. Anemochory of mainly local species was of lesser importance and of extra-local species probably of little or no importance. The mosses Neckera complanata and several other ecologically similar species as well as a species of Sphagnum (bogmoss) strongly support the claim that the Iceman, took northwards up Schnalstal, South Tyrol, as the route of the last journey. A different species of bogmoss, taken from his colon is another indication the Iceman’s presence at low altitude south of Schnalstal during his last hours when he was first high up, low down and finally at over 3,000m.
The discovery of the Iceman in 1991 led to considerable speculation about the reason for his presence at such a remote location in the high Alps. One theory suggested that he was engaged in transhumant pastoralism when he met his death. Recent archaeological and palynological studies, however, have found no evidence of pastoral activities in this region during the Chalcolithic period. Regular exploitation of this upland landscape appears to have begun no earlier than the Middle Bronze Age. The theory that the Iceman was a high-altitude herdsman therefore appears to be untenable.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2002
Samples of the intestinal content were collected from the ileum and colon of the Neolithic glacier mummy popularly known as the Tyrolean Iceman, or Ötzi. DNA was extracted from the samples and PCR amplified, using a variety of primer pairs designed to bind to different genes (mammal mitochondrial 12S ribosomal RNA gene, plant/fungal nuclear 18S ribosomal RNA gene, plant chloroplast ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase large subunit gene). This made it possible to distinguish between animal and plant food residues (macroremains) and pollen (microremains). According to the DNA reconstruction, the man's last meal was composed of red deer ( Cervus elaphus ) meat, and, possibly, cereals; this meal had been preceded by another one based on ibex ( Capra ibex ), different species of dicots, and cereals. The DNA spectrum corresponding to pollen residues in the colon, on the other hand, fits with the hypothesis that the last journey of the Neolithic hunter/warrior was made through a subalpin...