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was discovered in 1991, eroding out of a glacier in the Italian Alps near the border
between Italy and Austria. The human remains are of a
Late Neolithic or Chalcolithicman who was died between about 3350-3300 BC.
Because he ended up in a crevasse, his body was perfectly preserved by the glacier
in which he was found,
rather than crushed by the glacier's movements in the last 5,000 years. The
remarkable level of preservation has allowed archaeologists the first detailed look
into clothing, behavior, tool use and diet of the period.
Otzi's stable isotopic signature suggests that he was probably born near the
confluence of the Eisack and Rienz rivers of Italy, near where the town of Brixen is
today, but that as an adult, he lived in the lower Vinschgau valley, not far from where
he was eventually found.
The Iceman's stomach held cultivated wheat, possibly consumed as bread; game
meat, and dried sloe plums. Blood traces on the stone arrow points he carried with
him are from four different people, suggesting he had participated in a fight for his
life.
Further analysis of the contents of his stomach and intestines have allowed
researchers to describe his last two to three days as both hectic and violent. During
this time he spent time in the high pastures of the Otzal valley, then walked down to
the village in the Vinschgau valley. There he was involved in a violent confrontation,
sustaining a deep cut on his hand. He fled back into the Tisenjoch ridge where he
died.