Published October 16, 2013
A report that Ötzi the Iceman has 19 genetic relatives
living in Austria is the latest in a string of surprising discoveries
surrounding the famed ice mummy. Ötzi's 5,300-year-old corpse turned up
on the mountain border between Austria and Italy
in 1991. Here is a rundown of the latest on the world's oldest Alpine
celebrity, and some of the other remarkable things we've learned about
Ötzi.
(Read "Unfrozen" from the November 2011 issue of National Geographic magazine.)
1. The Iceman has living relatives.
Living
links to the Iceman have now been revealed by a new DNA study. Gene
researchers looking at unusual markers on the Iceman's male sex
chromosome report that they have uncovered at least 19 genetic relatives
of Ötzi in Austria's Tyrol region.
The match was made from samples of 3,700 anonymous blood donors in a study led by Walther Parson at Innsbruck Medical University.
Sharing a rare mutation known as G-L91, "the Iceman and those 19 share a
common ancestor, who may have lived 10,000 to 12,000 years ago," Parson
said.
The finding supports
previous research suggesting that Ötzi and his ancestors were of farming
stock. The study used Y-chromosome markers that are passed from father
to son to trace the Neolithic migrations that brought farming to Europe
via the Alps. Ötzi belonged to a Y-chromosome group called haplogroup G,
which is rooted, like farming, in the Middle East.
The study's overall results fit the idea that the changes of the Neolithic Revolution spurred people westward into the Tyrol region, Parson said.
He
is nevertheless wary of any suggestion that Ötzi's distant relatives
might be a chip off the old block, either physically or in their liking
for simple grain porridge.
2. He had several health issues.
Since
Ötzi's discovery in an alpine glacier more than two decades ago,
scientists have subjected his mummy to a full-body health check. The
findings don't make pretty reading. The 40-something's list of
complaints include worn joins, hardened arteries, gallstones, and a
nasty growth on his little toe (perhaps caused by frostbite).
Furthermore,
the Iceman's gut contained the eggs of parasitic worms, he likely had
Lyme disease, and he had alarming levels of arsenic in his system
(probably due to working with metal ores and copper extraction). Ötzi
was also in need of a dentist—an in-depth dental examination found
evidence of advanced gum disease and tooth decay. (See video: "Iceman Autopsy.")
Despite all this, and a fresh arrow wound to his shoulder, it was a sudden blow to the head that proved fatal to Ötzi.
3. He also had anatomical abnormalities.
Besides
his physical ailments, the Iceman had several anatomical abnormalities.
He lacked both wisdom teeth and a 12th pair of ribs. The mountain man
also sported a caddish gap between his two front teeth, known as a
diastema. Whether this impressed the ladies is a moot point—some
researchers suspect Ötzi might have been infertile.
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