By Medical Discovery News
June 16, 2012
Photo © South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology
Much of what scientists know about Neolithic man comes from Ötzi, whose body was preserved by ice in the Eastern Alps and discovered by German hikers in 1991. Since then, scientists have continued to study the intact ice mummy to learn about his health, his identity and how he died.
Though the iceman died 5,300 years ago, Ötzi’s body was so well preserved that scientists were recently able to extract uncontaminated DNA and sequence his genome. They discovered he suffered some of the same diseases people face today. At 46 years old, considered elderly for his time, Ötzi was predisposed for cardiovascular disease. He also had brown eyes, blood type O, lactose intolerance, and it turns out he had Lyme disease, making him the world’s first documented case.
Tissue from his hipbone revealed the presence of the bacterial pathogen that causes Lyme disease. Today, it’s among the most rapidly emerging infectious diseases in North America with nearly 30,000 confirmed cases in the U.S. in 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control. A bite from a deer tick or backlegged tick carrying Lyme disease can cause a bull’s eye rash around the bite site, along with fatigue, and aches and pains. The symptoms disappear but then can return weeks or years later with more severe problems such as paralysis, heart palpitations, and even memory loss and confusion.
Today, the infection can be treated with antibiotics and rarely will someone continue to have symptoms. But 5,300 years ago, antibiotics were unknown and Ötzi’s infection may have progressed and eventually disabled or killed him. But the iceman did not die from Lyme disease.
Ötzi may have been shot by an arrow and bled to death within minutes. He also had signs of defensive wounds to his hands and arms, including bruises and abrasions that make scientists think he had been involved in hand-to-hand combat. More recently, researchers were able to conclude he had a skull fracture that led to major bleeding in the back of the brain. This further suggests he was attacked or fell, which adds to mounting evidence Ötzi died during a fight.
The new DNA analysis also allows researchers to trace his ancestors, who came from the east and spread over Europe. Over time, following generations were genetically homogenized, so that his lineage can now only be traced to remote areas, such as Sardinia and Corsica.
At 5 feet, 2 inches tall, the small iceman will continue to give historians and scientists a better picture of how prehistoric people lived in this time between 3350 and 3100 B.C. To gain some perspective on how long ago this was, Ötzi had already been dead for 600 years when King Cheops of Egypt built his pyramids, and in England, Stonehenge would not be built for several hundred more years.
Ötzi is currently on display at the South Tyrol Museum of Archeology in South Tyrol, Italy. Visitors can see his body, kept frozen around 21 F, through a small window, and see a new 3-D life-sized model of how he would have appeared just before he died.
Pamela K. Bond 