The carbon-dating led scientists to place his death around 5,300 years ago. Of special interest were the “light bulb” moments where the scientists were shocked that the evidence didn’t fit their preconceived evolutionary beliefs-particularly regarding the intelligence of ancient man and the times in which he lived.
#Iceman killer death cause full#
Also, because he had a full stomach, Ötzi probably was not on the run or involved in a battle. Whoever killed him also left behind a valuable ax (perhaps to conceal the killer’s identity). Investigators concluded that Ötzi was probably killed by someone he knew because the arrow’s shaft had been removed, although the arrowhead obviously remained lodged in his back.
Most of the program consisted of this analysis, and I found it compelling to see how DNA, pollens, blood, and a host of other samples could be used to put the clues together like they were one giant jigsaw. Much like a modern-day crime scene forensic investigation, the scientists attempted to put together the clues to figure out how Ötzi died, why he was killed, and who killed him. From this material, the researchers isolated some DNA, and they also found evidence of arthritis, atherosclerosis, and Lyme disease. This made me cringe since I underwent six of those procedures during my battle with leukemia, and they were quite painful-although obviously not for Ötzi. Material was extracted from Ötzi’s pelvic bone using a trephine needle, the same instrument used for bone marrow biopsies. A deep cut on his right hand suggests he may have been involved in hand-to-hand combat with a knife-wielding foe. They learned that he had blood on the brain when he died, indicating he had suffered blunt force trauma just before his death. In the course of their “autopsy,” the team discovered Ötzi still had about a half pound of food consisting of both meat and grains in his stomach. So the team carefully extracted the stone arrowhead and performed additional examinations. Instead, he had been killed by another person. For the first time, researchers realized Ötzi’s death came about from more sinister circumstances than being lost in a snowstorm, as had originally been assumed by some researchers. Lodged deep in the mummy’s shoulder was an arrowhead. In 2001 a radiologist studying the original CT scans of Ötzi noticed something everyone else had assumed was a bone. The PBS program showed footage from these procedures and interviewed some of the scientists, allowing them to explain their findings. The lone exception to his days in this cold enclosure came in November, 2010, when a team of nearly two dozen researchers came together for an in-depth investigation of the “iceman.” Ötzi was thawed out for nine hours, during which time he essentially received an autopsy as the scientists attempted to solve many of the mysteries surrounding his death. Soon after being discovered, Ötzi’s remains were displayed in a custom-made frozen crypt at a museum in Bolzano, Italy, where they can still be seen today. Can modern forensic science provide answers explaining Ötzi’s death? How and why was he killed? Was he a fugitive on the run, killed in battle, or murdered by an acquaintance? Apparently murdered, his body was then frozen for millennia-5,300 years according to the program. Ötzi, named for the Ötztal Mountains in which he was discovered just 100 yards from the border of Austria and Italy in September 1991, is believed to be the oldest intact human body ever found. PBS recently aired an intriguing documentary (first aired in 2011) covering an investigation into the death of earth’s oldest cold case.
0 kommentar(er)
