turiking.co.uk/
Professor Turi King wants to get a closer look at the lethal arrow wound on his body. She has arranged to meet a member of the preservation team, Dr. Martina Tauber, who has a full-sized 3D scan of the victim's body and his injuries.
We are dealing with a body more than 5000 years old.
When Ötzi was first discovered, scientists thought he died of natural causes or of exposure on the high mountain slopes. It wasn't until 2001 that a blemish on the x rays, on Ötzi’s left shoulder, was revealed to be an arrowhead.
It's quite a small one, it's only 2.6 centimetres long.
It may have been small, but it was lethal.
It was shot with enough force that it penetrated several tissue layers, and we are talking about the skin, we are talking about soft tissue, bone tissue, muscle tissue, and then it's damaged a really big artery and causing haemorrhagic shock.
Scientists next set about finding the entry point and discovered a three-quarter inch cut in the skin on Ötzi’s back that matched the Arrow's trajectory.
So, does that say something about the position of the attacker, relative to Ötzi?
It's possible that it was shot from below or whilst leaning over. We have injuries on Ötzi’s head. Ones on the forehead and as you can also observe the right cheek and the forehead area has a dark discoloration. It might have been caused by falling, hitting his head.
So that's at or around the time of death, we think?
Yes.
Okay.
The head injuries fit with the picture of how he fell. He was struck in the back and fell forward, hitting his head as he landed. But there is another wound that seems unrelated to his dying moments.
Here you can see it clearly. It's a deep irregular shaped wound on his right hand between the thumb and index finger. And it goes from the palm to the back of his right hand and almost deep to the bone.
How old is that injury?
A tissue sample was taken from the cut.
The sample was tested for hemosiderin a compound that often forms after bleeding, and also haemoglobin, that would indicate the presence of a blood clot. The results showed how long Ötzi had the wound before his death.
Biochemical and histochemical analysis identified coagulating blood and hemosiderin.
Okay.
Suggesting that it was inflicted a few days, three days before his death.
That's going to have been very painful, he's going to be in a bit of trouble there.
Yes, definitely. Yes. Ötzi wasn't able to use his hands properly anymore. It was, for sure, life threatening for him.
What could have caused that?
When you look at the position, it's a classically defensive wound.
So that's not self-inflicted, that's not from him cutting skins or as part of hunting?
No.
Three days before his death, it appears Ötzi might have been in a fight and been badly hurt. This would have been particularly bad if this was his dominant hand.
Representation: www.josarsby.com/turi-king