Oetzi was not saved in a ‘time capsule’

Oetzi has not been permanently buried under the ice in the 5,300 years since his death. A team of archaeologists and glaciologists explain in an article in the “Holocene” magazine that the man died in the spring or summer and then discovered it repeatedly through thaws and did not remain – as he claimed so far – protected over thousands of years as in a “time capsule” under a river. Ice moving.

After the discovery, which occurred in 1991, Austrian archaeologist Konrad Spindler assumed, based on the findings, that Oetzi died during the fall escape with equipment damaged in battle and then frozen to death in the snow-free groove where they were found. his remains. The flesh and related artifacts are soon covered with ice, until they melt again.

A team of archaeologists and glacier researchers from Norway, Switzerland and Austria now say that the original hypothesis does not match the current scientific case. Their findings are based on knowledge gained in recent decades by investigating other glacial archaeological sites, as well as on previous paleobiological studies of the discoveries’ collection.

According to researchers, Oetzi died in early spring or summer. “His body may have settled in or on top of the snow,” the scientists wrote. After some time, it is said, the snow and ice melted and the body and many of its belongings slipped into the channel below, where they were eventually discovered. About 1,500 years after his death, Oetzi and his equipment were exposed several times during the hot summers. This resulted in deterioration of the most exposed parts of the body and further damage to the equipment.

Damage to Oetzi’s equipment may be due to natural processes at the site and not conflict or combat, as was initially thought.