Other tools and equipment were found around the body. These included a
flint knife with a wooden handle attached by animal sinew, in a treebast net
sheath, which he could attach to his belt. He had another net, possibly for
catching rabbits or birds, and two small light birchbark containers, one of
which is thought to have contained the embers of his last fire, to be used to
start the next one. There was also what has been called his‘firstaid kit’,
which consisted of strips of hide holding pieces of birch polypore fungus, an
ancient antibiotic and styptic remedy, which also can help deal with intestinal
parasites. Later medical analysis showed that Ötzi suffered from this problem
too. He would have carried much of his equipment in his backpack,
constructed of bent pieces of hazel wood supporting a leather sack.
He had a bow, 1.82m long, made of yew, which he had not yet finished
making–tool marks were visible on the wood. It was covered in blood. He had
possibly laid the bow against a rock before he died, and placed his quiver beside
it. Made of a hazel frame and chamoisleather bag, the quiver had a decorated
side pocket, but had been recently broken. Inside were antler tips, animal sinew
and treebast string, and two complete arrows, with twelve unfinished arrow
shafts. The arrow shafts were made of viburnum sapwood, and were around
85cm long. The finished arrows had flint arrowheads attached with birch tar and
wound thread, and three fletchings attached the same way, with nettle thread.
Interestingly, these two arrows had been made by different people–one right
handed, the other lefthanded, demonstrated by the way the threads were wound.
The most astonishing item, however, was Ötzi’s axe. Mounted on a 60cm
long yew haft, the copper axe, 9.5cm long, is bound with birch tar and leather
straps. The copper is almost pure, and the axe had been cast, and then cold
hammered to create the narrow blade. The blade showed clear signs of use.
Traces of arsenic found in the hair of the ice mummy suggest that he might
himself have been a metal worker. Arsenic commonly occurs with copper in
local ore deposits, and a certain amount would have been taken up by the
metalsmith’s skin and hair as he worked. IfŐtzi had worked the copper
himself, he must have been one of the first pioneers of metal technology, one
of the skilled few who brought the stone ages to an end and began the
development of a whole new world of production and tools which has led,
incrementally, to our own technological era.
Pollen analysis identified thirty different types of plant species inŐtzi’s
stomach. These, taken in with his food and drink, showed that he must have
come recently from south of the Alps, possibly from the Schnal Valley,
where one of the rarer types of tree species can be found, although he grew
up in a region even further away. He had left the valleys just twelve hours
THE OLDEST CRIMES