Samples from Ötzi's rectum and the lower part of his colon, representing the oldest digested food in his system, had traces of pine and spruce pollen. Ötzi's preserved digestive tract contained not just food but also traces of background pollen from the environment in which he ate his last meals, which provided a vague map for his final journey in previous research led by Klaus Oeggl, an archaeobotanist of Innsbruck University in Austria, who is also a co-author of the new study. "Nobody could really explain why he was up there." "It was quite an unusual situation to find this person murdered in the Alps, at quite a high altitude," says anthropologist Albert Zink, who leads research on Ötzi at the Institute for Mummy Studies at Eurac Research in Bolzano, Italy, but was not involved in the new study. Learn how Ötzi’s gut holds clues to the spread of people across Europe. Was it used for insulation? Or perhaps toilet paper? In any case, the species only grows at lower altitudes its presence helped researchers start mapping Ötzi's final journey. The moss may have been part of Ötzi's toolkit, though its purpose is still unclear.
![iceman killer used what chemical iceman killer used what chemical](http://img.thrfun.com/img/008/280/weed_spray_l3.jpg)
Dickson says he was immediately intrigued when he saw flat neckera ( Neckera complanata), a moss species that historically has been used for caulking boats and log cabins.įlat neckera was found in relatively large quantities at the site, often stuck to Ötzi's clothing. James Dickson, a retired professor of archaeobotany at University of Glasgow and the lead author of the new research, has been studying Ötzi since 1994 when he received samples of organic remains excavated from the site where the mummy was discovered. By working out how those botanical remains came to be deposited around Ötzi’s murder scene at the Tisen Pass-at an altitude of 10,530 feet-researchers have partially reconstructed the story of his final journey: a chaotic back-and-forth climb covering thousands of feet in altitude in a span of two days. In a new analysis published today in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers show how about 70 percent of the bryophytes found at the high-altitude Iceman site were non-local, with many of them originating at lower altitudes south of the Ötzal Alps. Now, these humble plants are revealing the Iceman’s final moments in greater detail, while reaffirming the idea that his last days were hectic and violent. To date, scientists have also documented at least 75 types of bryophytes, a plant family that contains mosses and liverworts, in and around the mummified remains of Ötzi. Read 5 surprising facts about Ötzi the Iceman.
![iceman killer used what chemical iceman killer used what chemical](https://investigationdiscovery.sndimg.com/content/dam/images/investigationdiscovery/crimefeed/legacy/2019/10/Gary-Ridgway-King-County-Sheriff-10142019.jpg)
They've shown that the 40-something man was likely suffering from stomach pains when he died, and was nursing a seriously injured right hand, cut nearly to the bone between his thumb and index finger.
![iceman killer used what chemical iceman killer used what chemical](https://cdn.wazimo.com/media/images/iceman-richard-kuklinski-facts/608c23e4724c4.jpg)
![iceman killer used what chemical iceman killer used what chemical](https://cdn.wazimo.com/media/images/iceman-richard-kuklinski-facts/608c23e3ca060.jpg)
They recently found his lost stomach, and from its contents, learned that Ötzi was murdered just an hour after eating a final meal of dried ibex and deer meat with einkorn wheat.
#Iceman killer used what chemical skin
Since 1991, when hikers in the Ötztal Alps discovered his frozen, naturally mummified body near the border between Italy and Austria, researchers have counted more than 60 tattoos on Ötzi's skin and shown that he was wearing a leather coat stitched together from the hides of several sheep and goats. Now, a new analysis of mossy plant remains from the Iceman’s murder site may reveal details of his frantic, final climb. About 5,300 years later, archaeologists are still unraveling the mystery of his death. A wounded-and possibly wanted-man, Ötzi the Iceman spent his final days on the move high up in the Alps until he was felled with an arrow to the back.