Studying human remains dating back more than 5,000 years ago is typically quite difficult. Although Otzi’s, also known as “iceman”, remains are over 5,000 years old, archaeologists are able to perform an autopsy him due to to the fact he was frozen in ice. When Otzi died he had fallen down the Italian Alps landing him in an advancing glacier. The glacier had preserved his body in ice so well that archaeologists were able to extract DNA, pollen, and tissue samples to find out about his origin, diet, and the natural environment 5,000 years ago. Archaeologists determined that Otzi’s last meal was ibex, red deer, and eikorn.
In September of 1991 two hikers had seen a head sticking out of ice in Tinsenjoch (Cullen 2003). The body was found between …show more content…
No one had recognized his stomach because after his death some of his organs had shrank and moved from their original places. His stomach had actually moved up to his upper abdomen. In November of 2005 “researchers pulled out some of his stomach contents through an incision in the abdominal wall. Preliminary DNA analysis of the fatty tissue shows that it came from an ibex” (Witze 2011). The DNA analysis proved researchers theories correct of Otzi’s last meal. Zink’s team had a huge decision to make, whether or not they should defrost Otzi for a complete autopsy or not. If they did defrost his body they run the risk of contaminating his body with the scientists germs and bacteria. If they were to defrost Otzi’s body they would only have 9 hours to complete the autopsy before having to refreeze him. They ended up deciding to defrost Otzi’s body, they gathered DNA, tissue samples and many other particles from his body. One of the biggest concern was wanting to get the arrow head out of Otzi’s shoulder. The scientists tried to get the arrowhead out but tissue was blocking the original pathway. They then faced the decision of whether they should cut the tissue or not because Otzi’s body is cultural treasure. The decision was to cut the tissue and get the arrowhead out of Otzi for analysis. After the autopsy was finished they put his body back into the vault to refreeze before it decays. During the investigation it was presumed that Otzi’s body was
In September of 1991 two hikers had seen a head sticking out of ice in Tinsenjoch (Cullen 2003). The body was found between …show more content…
No one had recognized his stomach because after his death some of his organs had shrank and moved from their original places. His stomach had actually moved up to his upper abdomen. In November of 2005 “researchers pulled out some of his stomach contents through an incision in the abdominal wall. Preliminary DNA analysis of the fatty tissue shows that it came from an ibex” (Witze 2011). The DNA analysis proved researchers theories correct of Otzi’s last meal. Zink’s team had a huge decision to make, whether or not they should defrost Otzi for a complete autopsy or not. If they did defrost his body they run the risk of contaminating his body with the scientists germs and bacteria. If they were to defrost Otzi’s body they would only have 9 hours to complete the autopsy before having to refreeze him. They ended up deciding to defrost Otzi’s body, they gathered DNA, tissue samples and many other particles from his body. One of the biggest concern was wanting to get the arrow head out of Otzi’s shoulder. The scientists tried to get the arrowhead out but tissue was blocking the original pathway. They then faced the decision of whether they should cut the tissue or not because Otzi’s body is cultural treasure. The decision was to cut the tissue and get the arrowhead out of Otzi for analysis. After the autopsy was finished they put his body back into the vault to refreeze before it decays. During the investigation it was presumed that Otzi’s body was