Pictures: Otzi the Iceman's New, Older Face Unveiled

Ötzi on Ice

Photograph from Vienna Report Agency/Sygma/Corbis

In 1991 two German hikers stumbled across the mummified body of Ötzi the Iceman, pictured in September of that year, in a melting glacier in the Ötzal Alps.

Ötzi's left shoulder appeared to have been torn by an arrowhead, and various items were scattered around his body, including a copper axe, a dagger, a backpack, an unfinished bow, an empty quiver, and arrow shafts lacking points.

(Related: "Iceman Wore Cattle, Sheep Hides; May Have Been a Herder.")

Published February 25, 2011

Last Gasp of the Iceman

Photograph from Vienna Report Agency/Sygma/Corbis

Ötzi (often spelled "Oetzi") struggles to breathe as snow falls around him in this painting of his last moments by artist Gregory Harlin. (Read "Last Hours of the Iceman.")

According to one popular idea—sometimes called the disaster theory—the wounded Ötzi froze to death in the mountain pass while escaping from a tribal clash.

In September 2010, however, researchers put forth an alternative Iceman death scenario in the journal Antiquity.

A team led by Alessandro Vanzetti, an archaeologist at the University of Rome-Sapienza proposed that Ötzi's body had been transported into the Alps from a nearby valley for burial.

According to this idea, Ötzi was not just a simple hunter but perhaps someone of note, and the artifacts found around his body were not haphazardly discarded but carefully placed as grave goods.

(Also see "Head Trauma Contributed to Iceman's Demise.")

Published February 25, 2011

A Kinder Construction?

Photograph by Kenneth Garrett, National Geographic

An early 1990s reconstruction of the Iceman's head for National Geographic magazine shows Ötzi looking younger and healthier than the 20th-anniversary version.

For the older bust, John Gurche, an anthropologically trained artist, used anatomical data from Ötzi and modern European males, as well as his own interpretations, to flesh out the Iceman's face.

In a 2008 blog post, National Geographic editor Christopher Sloan, who worked with the reconstruction team, lamented that "we didn't have access to a three-dimensional cast of the skull. This was a severe limitation.

"Artist John Gurche had to reconstruct the skull from CT scans and photos before he could make his model."

Gurche, who is anthropologically trained, also used anatomical data from Ötzi and modern European males, as well as his own interpretations, to flesh out the Iceman's face, according to a 1993 National Geographic article.

Overall, Sloan noted, such reconstructions "make some people, particularly scientists, squirm. Why? Because they are primarily art. The reason is there are so many gaps in our knowledge that artists have to make guesses in order to complete the image."

(Related: "Wounded Iceman Made Epic Final Journey, Moss Shows.")

Published February 25, 2011