New Face for 5,300-year-old Otzi the Iceman

Submitted by Ann on Fri, 02/25/2011 - 14:13

Meet 3,500-year-old Otzi. - Photo copyright Heike Engel-21Lux, South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC GERMANY About 5,300 years ago, a man travelling the Alps was hit by an arrow. Roughly 5,280 years later, two German tourists exploring the Italian-Austrian border discover the world's oldest and best preserved mummy.

Since, Ötzi has been examined by innumerable scientists and has received almost three million visitors.

To celebrate the natural mummy's twentieth year as a global sensation, the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano is dedicating a special exhibition to the Iceman.

The show's highlight – besides a peek at Ötzi's refrigerated corpse – is a new, naturalistic reconstruction of how Ötzi would have looked, based on anatomical 3D images of his skeleton.

In 1991 people all over the world followed with amazement the recovery of a completely preserved man from the Copper Age who, along with his clothing and equipment, had been preserved virtually intact in a glacier in the Ötztal Valley Alps for 5,300 years. The glacier mummy dubbed Ötzi, fascinates the public and scientists alike since.

We all want to know – and love to speculate – about the exact circomstances surrounding Ötzi's death? Was he alone? If not, did his people try to save him? Did he receive a ceremonial burial - to then 'slide off'? The answers to those questions are up for debate.

And now we can finally look him in the eyes and recognise, to our amazement, that he is really one of us!

Things we do know about are his clothing - the ice has almost perfectly preserved the outfit worn by the Tyrolean Iceman. We also know which hunting gear he carried. Amongst others, a copper axe, a flint knife, arrows and an unfinished bow. Scientists even found traces of the food the Iceman ate before he died. Yet, what about Ötzi's looks?

For the Ötzi20 exhibition, two experts from the Netherlands, Alfons and Adrie Kennis, worked on a 'new face' for the Iceman.

Using 3D images of his skull, X-rays and CT images, the Dutch artists have recreated the mysterious 5,300-year old man (the skull they worked from is shown here).

“This accurate yet sensitive representation of Ötzi will fascinate and stir people around the world”, says Museum Director Angelika Fleckinger. “It gives our history a face, in the truest sense of the word”.

The Chalcolithic Iceman was found on lying on his stomach, with his arm in an ackward position. Possibly, his companions tried to remove a arrowhead from his shoulder. - Image copyright the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology The reconstruction shows a Copper Age dweller of the Alps, striking in the lifelike nature of every detail, from his skin colour down to the smallest wrinkle on his brow.

A man of medium height, slight yet wiry, with narrow, sharp features, an unruly beard and tanned skin.

“Twenty years ago the discovery of this man, his mysterious death, the unique insights into his life and world, all profoundly affected us”, says Erwin Brunner, editor-in-chief of National Geographic Germany.

“And now we can finally look him in the eyes and recognise, to our amazement, that he is really one of us!”

Ötzi's new face and physique can be viewed at the exhibition “Ötzi20 Life. Science. Fiction. Reality”, opening March 1st. The show – which aims to present a more rounded picture of the Iceman, beyond the purely scientific aspect – takes up the entire 1200 square metres of the museum’s exhibition space. Four floors are being used to showcase the latest scientific findings, but also to display a marvellous collection of Ötzi oddities and absurdities – arcane interpretations, outlandish speculations, quirky marketing ideas and sensational media articles (and Brad Pitt with an Otzi tattoo).

The 3D Reconstruction is featured in the March issue of National Geographic Germany (you can read the article online, free from charge), and an official companion to the show, “Ötzi 2.0 – Eine Mumie zwischen Wissenschaft, Kult und Mythos (A Mummy between Science, Cult and Myth)”, is available in German (Theiss Verlag) and Italian (from Folio). Oh, and Ötzi's on Facebook too. ;)

Read 47 comments, or leave your own

About The Author

Ann Wuyts (follow me: e-mail or

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Last three pieces by this author:

Unique Iron Age Hoard goes on display at Ipswich Museum | Royal Artefacts - Including King Tut's Golden Trumpet - Returned to Egyptian Museum Cairo | SCA releases full list of treasures missing from the Cairo Museum

Ann 'Vint' Wuyts (on Google+) is looking after the Heritage Key community and avatar health & entertainment. She is slightly fascinated by everything to do with 3D technology and what's commonly defined as 'Web 2.0'. When she grows up, Ann - eventually - wants to be a mummy. Favourite game: Buzzword…

Comments

Jimmy Dunn:

Looks like a homeless man I saw the other day.

Fri, 25-02-2011 16:48

Ann:

He (probably) reached an impressive age of 45 years. How would you look after that long without aftershave/Nivea? (And no hair dye or Gilette either!) ;)

Fri, 25-02-2011 17:33

Albatross:

Although he was found on a peak, the museum is certainly not offering a peek at that peak. (typo in paragraph 4)

Fri, 25-02-2011 18:50

Albatross:

Also, is he from the Copper Age (para 5) or the Stone Age (para 11). Or were these copper stones?

Fri, 25-02-2011 18:53

Ann:

Hi Albatros, gratitude for pointing these out! Both fixed. Otzi is probably the most known end of the Stone Age/start of the mixed tools Copper Age proof. As to my defense, his dagger was still stone! ;)

Fri, 25-02-2011 19:15

Dave Pellani:

I saw a documentary pertaining to this about 5 or 6 years ago -- I guess you could say Otzi died homeless.

Sat, 26-02-2011 23:19

Melanie:

Wow, this is amazing. I hope that there will be much more information that we can learn from the Iceman.

This has been and interesting read and I hope that there will be more from you in the future!

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Mon, 28-02-2011 18:34

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I would have guessed Rasputin or Nostradamus

Wed, 02-03-2011 03:43

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geez did they have to make him look like a bum?

Tue, 22-03-2011 05:09

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There's a guy who looks like that living on the streets in Manchester!

Wed, 27-04-2011 20:30

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unique insights into his life and world, all profoundly affected us”, says Erwin Brunner, editor-in-chief of National Geographic Germany.

Mon, 25-07-2011 16:26

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-Austrian border discover the world's oldest and best preserved mummy.

Mon, 25-07-2011 16:27

Shaadi:

Both fixed. Otzi is probably the most known end of the Stone Age/start of the mixed tools Copper Age proof.

Mon, 25-07-2011 16:27

claire davies:

It is so wonderful what modern technology can do.
It's amazing what scientists are able to learn by looking at the remains of someone from the long-ago past.

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Mon, 15-08-2011 06:51

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How did scientist create a real life face stucture from a very old remain of Ötzi?

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How did scientist create a real life face stucture from a very old remain of Otzi?

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Wed, 17-08-2011 17:49

lisa olson:

Wow, it is so amazing what modern science can do.
Putting muscle, skin, hair , eyes , etc to give the face is so brilliant.
i have read several accounts of why Otzi died.
are we any closer to finding out the reason he was trapped ?

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Man, this is freaking interesting. But really the technology and science we have today is a killer, I mean creating an image of a man from his 5300 year old skeleton??

Wed, 24-08-2011 19:05

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Also, is he from the Copper Age (para 5) or the Stone Age (para 11). Or were these copper stones?

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