Hikers found him in a melting glacier in 1991, preserved down to his last meal and 61 tattoos. An arrowhead buried in his shoulder makes Ötzi the world's oldest unsolved homicide.
The South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology keeps him at roughly -6°C behind glass. Their official file covers how he's preserved and what we've learned.
Found in 1991 in a melting Alpine glacier, Ötzi came with clothes, a copper axe, a bow, and 61 tattoos clustered on his joints. A complete Copper Age man, frozen mid-life.
A tight animated breakdown of the forensic case: the arrowhead, the timeline, and why investigators think he was ambushed from behind.
NOVA's full documentary reconstructs Ötzi's final days like a homicide investigation, scan by scan.
National Geographic on what Ötzi's genome, gut, and tissue teach modern medicine — from heart disease to the oldest known Lyme infection.
His stomach held a final meal of fatty, dried ibex meat and einkorn wheat — eaten calmly, barely an hour before an arrow ended him.
Several people tied to Ötzi's discovery died in the years that followed. Coincidence, or the Iceman's revenge? The legend, examined.