Ötzi, the Iceman is the modern name of a well-preserved natural mummy of a man of around 3300 BC, found in 1991 in a glacier in the Ötztal Alps, near the border between Austria and Italy.
The nickname comes from the valley of discovery. That rivals the Egyptian “Ginger” as the oldest known human mummy, and has provided an unprecedented view on the habits of Chalcolithic (Copper Age) Europeans.
Ötzi was found by two German tourists, Helmut and Erika Simon, on September 19, 1991. The body was at first thought that a modern corpse, like several others who had been recently found in the region. Was recovered by the Austrian authorities and taken to Innsbruck, where he discovered his true age, finally.
Subsequent studies showed that the body had been located a few meters inside Italian territory. That is now on display at the Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano South Tyrol, Italy.
