Accidentally stabbed by his own arrow? We've all make stupid mistakes but Otzi was an adult who had been using this equipment throughout his life. The hunting bow had been a crucial part of daily life for such a long time that I'm certain these potential pitfalls had all been identified in the distant past and a bow health and safety system instinctively observed since the mesolithic. I am puzzled more by the pollen evidence. Otzi contained spring pollen but was found among summer pollen, suggesting weeks, or even months, between his death and his "burial". Did his failure to return home cause a search party to be sent over the mountains? Did his tribe, his family, finally find Otzi's now less-than-fresh remains, with his arm bent across his chest in the rigor of death? Was he then, as befit his station, interred with honour and ceremony beside the trackway he had travelled so often, among the mountains he had crossed to trade the precious red metal.
If this is an old idea, please, someone let me know. If it's original, however, I hope it assists the debate!
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road