Researchers say Italy's 5,000-year-old Iceman died from head trauma, not arrow

This is starting to sound like an Italian or French B grade movie.


The researchers believe the Iceman fell over backward, but was then
turned over onto his stomach by his aggressor who then pulled out the
arrow shaft while leaving the arrowhead imbedded in Oetzi's shoulder.
Then the assailant attacked him again with a blow to the head.


Researchers say Italy's 5,000-year-old Iceman died from head trauma,
not arrow

The Associated Press
Tuesday, August 28, 2007

ROME, Italy: Researchers studying Iceman, the 5,000-year-old mummy
found frozen in the Italian Alps, have come up with a new theory for
how he died, saying he died from head trauma, not by bleeding to death
from an arrow.

Just two months ago, researchers in Switzerland published an article
in the Journal of Archaeological Science saying the mummy - also known
as Oetzi - had died after the arrow tore a hole in an artery beneath
his left collarbone, leading to massive loss of blood, shock and heart
attack.

But radiologists, pathologists and other researchers, using new
forensic information and CAT scans, said Tuesday they believed that
the blood loss from the arrow wound only made Oetzi lose
consciousness. They believe he died either by hitting his head on a
rock when he passed out or because his aggressor attacked him again
with a blow to the head.

The researchers presented their findings Monday night at the Institute
for Mummies and the Iceman at the European Academy in Bolzano, a
research institution. The mummy institute was launched in July to
coordinate research into Oetzi, who is housed in the nearby South
Tyrol Archaeological Museum.

In a statement Tuesday, the academy said the findings reopened the
debate over Oetzi's cause of death, particularly since they took into
account the rather unnatural way in which his body was found: face
down, with his left arm across his chest.

The researchers believe the Iceman fell over backward, but was then
turned over onto his stomach by his aggressor who then pulled out the
arrow shaft while leaving the arrowhead imbedded in Oetzi's shoulder.

In a paper published in the archaeological magazine Germania, the
researchers said they had determined that Oetzi assumed his final
position before rigor mortis set in. They also said that based on his
good health and equipment found with him, that he belonged to a social
class not accustomed to manual labor.

The researchers were: Andreas Lippert, a prehistory professor at the
University of Vienna, Dr. Paul Gostner, a radiologist at the Bolzano
regional hospital, Dr. Eduard Egarter Vigl, a pathologist at the
Bolzano hospital, and Dr. Patrizia Pernter, a radiologist at the
hospital.

Oetzi was found in 1991 by accident by a group of hikers. In 2000, his
body was temporarily thawed so that researchers could take samples to
study. They have found that his last meal included unleavened bread
made of einkorn, a type of wheat, as well as some greens. DNA from the
contents of his intestines showed he had also consumed venison as one
of his last meals - strengthening the theory that he was a hunter.

While little else is known about Oetzi himself, he was carrying a bow,
a quiver of arrows and a copper ax.

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