Iceman

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 4:43 pm

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/09/1 ... =news_main

Sept. 19, 2006 — Ötzi the Iceman, the world's oldest and best-preserved mummy, died in just a few minutes following the rupture of a major artery, a CT scan of the 5,300-year-old mummy has revealed

How long ago was Oetzi found? Maybe 10 rs. ago? So after all those TV specials and the elaborate stories about him fleeing up a mountain, etc., they just got around to doing a CT scan?

Oh well. Now we know that he was dead very quickly from the arrow shot. No pursuit at all.

Post by **Minimalist** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 4:51 pm

It took them years to find the arrow.

Obviously, they don't have the Law and Order forensic types.

Starflower · Post by **Starflower** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 5:18 pm

I have been following this story avidly since he was found and have always felt there was something wrong with the 'fleeing up the mountain' theory. But couldn't get past thinking his assailants would have robbed him had he died close to them. This article, though older, does give a logical reason behind that scenario:
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20 ... oetzi.html

"Only a leader would have owned a copper axe. Copper was very precious and a symbol of power at that time," Leitner said.

According to his reconstruction, the Iceman was assaulted not far from the Similaun Glacier where his mummified body was found.

The assailants kept Ötzi at a distance because they were afraid of him, Leitner said. One attacker hit him with an arrow in the back, near his left shoulder, others threw more arrows at him, while another one got closer and hit Ötzi's right hand with a knife.

"Then the attackers removed the arrow from Ötzi's shoulder and left him there. As they came back to the village, the murderers said that the old man got lost in the mountains. For this reason, they did not steal his precious axe. It had to look like an accident, not a murder," Leitner said.

All we can do at this late date is make an educated guess about what actually happened.

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 6:25 pm

Yeah, Starflower, that is still pretty mysterious. The Iceman was obviously killed in a close up fight. Whatever the circumstances it's hard to believe that they didn't take his axe.

If I remember also, this discovery pushed the Copper Age back about a thousand years. So it had to be valuable.

Post by **Minimalist** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 6:53 pm

I recall seeing where several different blood types were found on Ice Man's body and clothing.

Perhaps, before dying, he was able to wound one or two of his attackers who had closed in for the kill. The need to deal with their own wounds may have prevented them from finishing the robbery....particularly if he is still standing there holding a bloody axe.

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 7:05 pm

Could be Min. But the subclavian artery is a major one.

Did you see Troy with Brad Pitt as Achilles? Plenty wrong with the movie but the early scene when Achilles was in single combat demonstrated the severing of that artery pretty well.

Achilles ran toward his opponent, then leapt into the air, driving his sword down into the left collarbone area. Well, he would have done to his opponent what Oetzi had done to him, with similar results. It may have taken a minute or two to expire but he would have been down immediately.

Post by **Minimalist** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 7:14 pm

I think it was a History Channel program and they were pretty definitive about the other blood types on him.

Of course, there is always the possibility that he was one of the attackers and wounded in the attack. Carried away by companions (who also withdrew the arrow) he may have been abandoned when he died.

There is just no way to know.