In 1991, two German tourists were hiking in the Ötztal Alps — a mountain range shared by Austria and Italy — when they stumbled upon the frozen remains of a dead man. The ice preserved the man so well that his body, clothes and tools never decomposed.
Scientists dubbed him Ötzi the Iceman and began studying the naturally-preserved mummy. They’ve determined he lived more than 5,000 years ago, which makes Ötzi the Iceman the oldest mummy ever found.
Researchers are still studying the mountain mummy, and Ötzi the Iceman continues to unlock answers about what daily life was like thousands of years ago.
The hikers who found Ötzi the Iceman contacted authorities immediately. Austrian police took note of his grass overcoat — a garment typically worn by locals up until the late nineteenth century. They assumed Ötzi the Iceman died sometime in the past two centuries.
But when scientists began ...
