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Posted: 12-12-2011 18:47 Post subject:

Ötzi the iceman's stomach throws up a surprise
11 December 2011 by Andy Coghlan

IT'S time to rethink Ötzi the iceman's last hours. The theory that he was caught and killed after a lengthy and exhausting chase through the Alps clashes with new evidence that he sat down for a leisurely meal no more than an hour before his violent death.

Ötzi's body was discovered in 1991 inside a glacier near the mountainous border between Italy and Austria. It had been naturally mummified by ice about 5300 years ago.

A previous analysis of Ötzi's stomach concluded it was almost empty of food, leading to the idea that the iceman spent his final moments running on an empty stomach. But when Albert Zink of the Institute for Mummies and the Iceman in Bolzano, Italy, and colleagues took a closer look, they realised that the empty "stomach" was in fact a section of Ötzi's colon. They found that the real stomach had been forced upwards, and now lies wedged under the iceman's ribs.

Zink's team has now examined its contents, which include plenty of partially digested ibex meat, probably suggesting that Ötzi enjoyed a hearty meal shortly before his death (Journal of Archaeological Science, DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2011.08.003).

"The iceman felt secure and had a rest with a large meal," says Zink. "At a maximum of 30 to 60 minutes later - because otherwise his stomach would have emptied - he was shot from behind with an arrow."

The researchers also found that Ötzi had three gallstones, supporting the idea that he had a diet rich in animal fat. Previous work showed his arteries were full of fatty deposits.

The team also looked at the iceman's skeleton, and found that his knees show evidence of wear and tear caused by the repeated heavy strain of hiking across mountainous terrain. This supports theories that he spent long periods walking in the mountains, possibly hunting animals for food.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228423.600-otzi-the-icemans-stomach-throws-up-a-surprise.html

Posted: 28-02-2012 20:46 Post subject:

Oetzi the Iceman's nuclear genome gives new insights
By Jason Palmer, Science and technology reporter, BBC News

New clues have emerged in what could be described as the world's oldest murder case: that of Oetzi the "Iceman", whose 5,300-year-old body was discovered frozen in the Italian Alps in 1991.
Oetzi's full genome has now been reported in Nature Communications.
It reveals that he had brown eyes, "O" blood type, was lactose intolerant, and was predisposed to heart disease.
They also show him to be the first documented case of infection by a Lyme disease bacterium.

Analysis of series of anomalies in the Iceman's DNA also revealed him to be more closely related to modern inhabitants of Corsica and Sardinia than to populations in the Alps, where he was unearthed.

The study reveals the fuller genetic picture as laid out in the nuclei of Oetzi's cells.
This nuclear DNA is both rarer and typically less well-preserved than the DNA within mitochondria, the cell's "power plants", which also contain DNA.
Oetzi's mitochondrial DNA had already revealed some hints of his origins when it was fully sequenced in 2008.

Albert Zink, from the Eurac Institute for Mummies and the Iceman in Bolzano, Italy, said the nuclear DNA study was a great leap forward in one of the most widely studied specimens in science.
"We've been studying the Iceman for 20 years. We know so many things about him - where he lived, how he died - but very little was known about his genetics, the genetic information he was carrying around," he told BBC News.

He was carrying around a "haplotype" that showed his ancestors most likely migrated from the Middle East as the practice of formal agriculture became more widespread.
It is probably this period of transition to an agrarian society that explains Oetzi's lactose intolerance.

Prof Zink said that next-generation "whole-genome" sequencing techniques made the analysis possible.
"Whole-genome sequencing allows you to sequence the whole DNA out of one sample; that wasn't possible before in the same way.
"This was really exciting and I think it's just the start for a longer study on this level. We still would like to learn more from this data - we've only just started to analyse it."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17191398

Posted: 01-03-2012 23:14 Post subject:

And he had Lymes diesease....

On top of all his other woes

Posted: 02-05-2012 13:35 Post subject:

Posted: 14-11-2012 06:21 Post subject:

Posted: 11-10-2013 14:16 Post subject:

Link to Oetzi the Iceman found in living Austrians
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24477038

Austrian scientists have found that 19 Tyrolean men alive today are related to Oetzi the Iceman, whose 5,300-year-old frozen body was found in the Alps.

Their relationship was established through DNA analysis by scientists from the Institute of Legal Medicine at Innsbruck Medical University.

The men have not been told about their connection to Oetzi. The DNA tests were taken from blood donors in Tyrol.

A particular genetic mutation was matched, the APA news agency reports.

Oetzi's body was found frozen in the Italian Alps in 1991.
Oetzi reconstruction (South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology/EURAC/Marco Samadelli-Gregor Staschitz) A reconstruction shows what Oetzi may have looked like before an arrow felled him

Walther Parson from the Institute told APA, the Austrian Press Agency, that the same mutation might be found in the nearby Swiss region of Engadine and in Italy's South Tyrol region.

"We have already found Swiss and Italian partners so that we can pursue our research," he said.

He was quoted as saying DNA had been analysed from 3,700 men who had given blood donations in Tyrol. They also provided data on their ancestry.

Women were not included in the study, as a different procedure would be required to match their genes.

Since Oetzi was first found by hikers with an arrow buried in his back, experts have determined that he died from his wounds. There has been extensive debate as to whether he fell where he died or was buried there by others.