The Clothes and Equipment of Ötzi, The 5,300-year-old Iceman

By | October 24, 2016

The iceman, nicknamed Ötzi, was found at 3,210 metres in the Italian alps in 1991, a well-preserved natural mummy.

The clothes of the 5,300-year-old mummy, which include a brown bear hat, a sheep and goat coat and a quiver made from roe deer leather, are made from at least five different species of animal.

In the latest research, scientists identified DNA from nine fragments of leather in the iceman’s clothes.

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They say the bear and deer skins in the hat and arrow quiver provide evidence of hunting and trapping of wild animals. The leggings were made of goat leather.

According to a paper in the journal Scientific Reports, the lends support to the idea that Copper Age people selected species for specific attributes when making clothing.

The equipment of Ötzi the Iceman as displayed at the Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy. From left to right: stone dagger, bows, leather quiver, tinder fungus, birch fungus and birch bark. Image: Institute for Mummies and the Iceman
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Source: Scientists Recreates the Voice of Otzi