Bolzano: Visiting Ötzi

Older than the Egyptian pyramids.
Older than Stonehenge.

Ötzi is a 5,300-year-old wet mummy … which makes him a man of the Copper Age(c. 6500 BCE to c. 3000 BCE).

He is described on the website of the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, where he currently resides, as an “… archaeologic sensation, media star, research topic, museum object. …”

He is known by a number of names — the Iceman; the Similaun Man; the Tyrolean Iceman. Even “frozen Fritz” has been used to refer to him … rather irreverently. Then there are all the names given to him in other languages and by the media — some 500 … I read on an info panel — in the initial weeks and months following his discovery. But the one name which seems to have stuck is Ötzi … given to him by an Austrian journalist who was “looking for a catchy name.”

Archaeologists believe that he was crossing the Giogo di Tisa, a 10,525-foot (3,208m) high mountain pass in the Ötztal Alps, when he was murdered … as seems to be borne out by the arrowhead that came to light during radiological studies. After his death, Ötzi’s body was claimed by the glacier ice. He remained hidden until, in 1991, two hikers found the body, the upper part of which was protruding from the thinning ice.

We’ve seen mummies before … in Egypt; in Greenland; and elsewhere. What made us curious to see Ötzi, however, was that like the mummies of Qilakitsoq, he is categorized as a wet mummy … meaning that he was mummified naturally in the glacier ice, losing most of his body fluid over a period of time. To ensure that further fluid loss is avoided now that he has ‘come to light’, he is sprayed regularly with sterile water.

Ötzi is stored in a special cold cell that has a window through which he can be viewed by visitors … with a platform that rises with the push of a button to give us ‘short people’ a better look. Multimedia display screens and interactive stations provide all kinds of information about the mummy and the studies conducted. His clothing and other artifacts — including an axe — have been carefully restored and are exhibited in glass cases. Information panels also provide details about what visitors are seeing.

Seeing Ötzi lying on his ‘bed’ — tattoos clearly visible even after thousands of years — was eerie to be sure. Fascinating as well.

Since we started our visit from the third floor, I didn’t realize photography of the Ötzi exhibit area was not allowed, so I do have a couple of photos … most of which are from the multimedia screens. Of course, I stopped taking photos once I noticed the sign banning photos and videos.

(More information about the fascinating find of Ötzi is available at this link on the museum website: https://www.iceman.it/en/oetzi/the-iceman. This second link has some fascinating information as well about the studies that were conducted on the mummy: https://www.eurac.edu/en/magazine/otzi-s-ink.)

In addition to the permanent exhibition about all things Ötzi, including a ‘living image’ created by Dutch specialists using scientific criteria, there are special exhibitions at the museum as well.

The current installation is called “Under Propaganda.” This is where we started our museum visit, and found many interesting artifacts from the New Stone Age to the Late Iron Age, and more … including a Roman era garment clasp in the shape of a swastika that the head of the cultural office during the Nazi period wanted to present to Hitler as a gift … but was convinced otherwise by archaeologists.

The website describes this special exhibit as follows:

“… Between 1920 and 1972, political systems used archaeological finds and excavations in South Tyrol to reinforce their own ideologies. Fascist-influenced Italian scientists presented Roman relics as evidence of the region’s “Latin origins,” while Nazi researchers interpreted their finds as confirmation of a “Germanic” past. … The special exhibition, Under Propaganda, brings this conflict-ridden era of South Tyrol’s history of archaeology to life. Numerous finds from 1920-1972 are being reinterpreted for the first time according to modern scientific standards, and many of them will be on public display for the first time ever. …”

Another interesting exhibition.

And then, off we went to have lunch … but you already know that from the Bolzano: A-wander footprint.Læs mere