<< News >> Iceman final days: final meal and death from head trauma, not arrow
Submitted by coldrum on Saturday, 24 January 2009 Page Views: 4534
DiscoveriesCountry: Switzerland What we eat can say a lot about us - where we live, how we live and eventually even when we lived. From the analysis of the intestinal contents of the 5,200-year-old Iceman from the Eastern Alps, University of Glasgow team has shed some light on the mummy's lifestyle and some of the events leading up to his death. Previously, researchers now believe the Iceman died of head trauma, not the wound of an arrow.By identifying six different mosses in his alimentary tract, Prof. James Dickson (University of Glasgow) and his team suggest that the Iceman may have traveled, injured himself and dressed his wounds.
The Iceman is the first glacier mummy to have fragments of mosses in his intestine. This is surprising as mosses are neither palatable nor nutritious and there are few reports of mosses used for internal medical treatments. Rather, mosses recovered from archaeological sites tend to have been used for stuffing, wiping and wrapping.
Dickson and colleagues' paper describes in detail the six different mosses identified and seeks to provide answers to two key questions in each case. Firstly, where did the Iceman come in contact with each species; secondly, how did each come to enter his alimentary tract.
In particular, the authors of the new article in Vegetation History and Archaeobotany suggest that one type of moss is likely to have been used to wrap food, another is likely to have been swallowed when the Iceman drank water during the last few days of his life, and yet another would have been used as a wound dressing. One type of moss in the Iceman's gut is not known in the region where the mummy was found, implying that the Iceman must have traveled.
For more, see sciencedaily. In 2007, researchers in Switzerland published an article in the Journal of Archaeological Science saying the man known as Oetzi died after an arrow tore a hole in an artery beneath his left collarbone, leading to massive blood loss, shock and heart attack. But radiologists, pathologists and other researchers, using new forensic information and CAT scans, now say they believe blood loss from the arrow wound only made Oetzi lose consciousness. They now say he died either from hitting his head on a rock when he passed out or because his attacker hit him in the head.
The researchers presented their findings at the Institute for Mummies and the Iceman at the European Academy in Bolzano. The institute was launched in July to coordinate research into Oetzi, whose remains are housed in a nearby museum.
In a statement, the academy said the findings reopened the debate over Oetzi's death, particularly since they took into account the way his body was found: face down, with his left arm across his chest.
The researchers believe he fell backward, but was turned onto his stomach by his attacker, who then pulled out his arrow — leaving the arrowhead imbedded in Oetzi's shoulder.
In a paper published in the archaeological magazine Germania, the researchers said they determined that Oetzi assumed his final position before rigor mortis set in.
The researchers were Andreas Lippert (University of Vienna), Paul Gostner, Patrizia Pernter, and Eduard Egarter Vigl (Bolzano regional hospital).
In 2000, Oetzi's body was temporarily thawed so researchers could take samples to study. They found that his last meal included unleavened bread and some greens. He also had eaten venison — strengthening the theory that he was a hunter.
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