Otzi the Iceman is the oldest mummified remains of a prehistoric human that was ever recovered on earth today. He is a messenger from the past that has kept archeologists and scientists fascinated in his mysteries.
Many scientists and archeologists have tried to break down the Iceman’s deepest secrets, and its secrets never failed to give them results that would throw away some of the conventional beliefs of how Neolithic humans lived their lives in the past.
Otzi the Iceman is the remains of a 45-year-old Neolithic male who lived 5 300 years ago. He was five feet three inches tall, and he carried in his death a collection of sophisticated artifacts like copper axe, dagger, bow and arrows, a backpack, an alleged first-aid kit and many other things; all of equal importance to the expert eye as Otzi.
The remains were found by hikers in the Italian-Austrian border in Otzal Alps in 1991 and since then studies like DNA sampling, Carbon-14 dating of Otzi’s belongings and the CSI-like investigation of the Iceman’s death has become one of the priorities that experts want to unravel.
Through modern techniques on DNA sequencing, scientists now know that Otzi had brown eyes, he is lactose intolerant and had a type-O blood. But the most confusing finding on Otzi the Iceman is that him having non-human genetics, this is the result of a tissue biopsy done by Doctor Frank Maixner of Eurac research. Surprisingly high amounts of the pathogen Treponema denticola that causes periodontal (gum) disease have populated Otzi’s body. The researchers indicated that the bacteria did not colonize the body after death. It is already part of Otzi’s mouth microflora. The researchers also found out that the bacteria had already been distributed throughout his body through the blood stream. The pathogen had infected Otzi’s mouth, ligaments and bones that represent that Otzi the Iceman has suffered periodontitis; a serious gum infection that destroys the bones where the teeth are attached. The spreading of the bacteria from the mouth is more likely to happen when inflamed gums are improperly treated said Thomas Rattei of the University of Vienna. Reconstruction and analyzing of Otzi’s metagenome is highly important to come-up with a deeper understanding of the bacteria that colonized his body.
Scientists are confident that more unexpected findings will unfold in the continuous study of this extraordinary messenger from the past; Otzi the Iceman.