On September 19th, 1991, Helmut and Erika Simon, a German couple climbing near the border between Austria and Italy, strayed a few meters from their initial route. Suddenly, Erika saw a small head and some shoulders uncovered in the snow. At first, without realizing what was before their eyes, they both thought it was a doll.
Who Was Ötzi, the Famous Ice Man?
In reality, the pair of climbers had found a solitary prehistoric traveler who became world-renowned as the Ice Man. Initially, it was believed that the Ice Man was 4,000 years old; however, when scientists studied the remains, it was confirmed that he had been under the snow for at least 5,000 years. An incredible discovery.
How old was the Ice Man? To put it in numbers, the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun was born two thousand years after the Ice Man. Something simply extraordinary. Therefore, the body of the Ice Man was the oldest ever found in the glaciers of the Alps. Before the Ice Man, the oldest body found in that area was 400 years old.
Where was the Ice Man found?
The oldest mummy in Europe, the Ice Man, was found at over 3,200 meters in altitude. Never before had a prehistoric body been found at such a remote height. In something that surprised the experts, there were no objects or traces of any possible campsite with other companions near the Ice Man. He was there, alone, at over three thousand meters in altitude.
Ötzi’s body was preserved in a magnificent state because the rock where it lay was covered with snow very soon after. For thousands of years, the glacier preserved the remains, and as a result, the body was mummified. After the corresponding analysis, it was determined that Ötzi lived in the Copper Age between 4000 and 2200 BC. A couple of studies indicated that he was between 5,000 and 5,500 years old. A figure was never before seen for a frozen body.
The great mystery is why he was in the mountains alone. No one knows what brought the Ice Man to that place. There are many theories about the famous mummy. A trader, a farmer, a traveler, or an exile. Despite this, his impact on the history of humanity has been invaluable.
Story originally published in Spanish in Cultura Colectiva News
