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Photograph by Robert Clark
The Iceman's arm thaws on a sheet of sterilized foil.
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Photograph by Robert Clark
Dutch artists Adrie and Alfons Kennis used 3-D scans of the Iceman's skeleton and other anatomical clues to create a life-size model. Scientists once believed he had blue eyes; his DNA now proves they were brown.
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Photograph by Robert Clark
On his last trek he wore hay-and-hide shoes (above, on glass model) held together with bark fibers.
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Photograph by Robert Clark
After moving the Iceman into a laboratory, researchers raised the temperature to 64°F to thaw him on a sheet of sterilized aluminum foil in a box custom-made to accommodate his crossed feet and oddly outstretched left arm. The 30 ounces of meltwater collected during the overnight defrosting is being analyzed for cold-adapted bacteria that might hasten the decomposition of the mummy.
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Photograph by Robert Clark
After undergoing a nine-hour autopsy at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy, the thawed Iceman is returned to a temperature of 21°F. Then he will be moved to the large glass slab on which he lies for public viewing.
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Photograph by Robert Clark
The red arrow shows where hikers found the Iceman's body in 1991, poking out of glacial ice in a shallow bowl of rock at an altitude of about 10,500 feet. A rich assortment of Neolithic artifacts were scattered around the body. The site, in the Italian part of the Ötztal Alps, gave rise to the mummy's nickname: Ötzi.
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Photograph by Robert Clark
Near the Iceman's knee, a cross-shaped tattoo still stands out on his leathery skin. It may have been a folk remedy for arthritic joint pain.
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Photograph by Peter Rigaud, Courtesy Institute for Archaeology, University of Innsbruck
A model depicts the Iceman and the location of several artifacts as they were found. The body is shown near the center. Near the feet, two chunks of birch fungus on leather straps were recovered, along with a flint-bladed dagger and shoes. Not far from the head was a pack containing a maple leaf. Also found were an ax with a copper blade, two arrows, and a tangle of string.
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Photograph by Robert Clark
Eduard Egarter Vigl (pointing) and colleagues use an endoscope to try to examine the arrowhead in the Iceman's shoulder. The arrow severed an artery, causing a quick, bloody demise.
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Photograph by Paul Gostner, General Hospital of Bolzano
X-rays of the Iceman's left shoulder guided the team in their attempt to find the fatal arrowhead, marked above by a red arrow.
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Photograph by Robert Clark
Probing and snipping for nine hours, scientists harvested dozens of biological clues about the life—and death—of the Iceman.
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Photograph by Robert Clark
Remnants of the Iceman's stomach and last meal (in test tubes) prompted one doctor to say, "He had a good appetite!"
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Photograph by Robert Clark
Neurosurgeons retrieved bits of a blood clot, suggesting brain trauma around the time the Iceman died.
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Photograph by Robert Clark
All artifacts photographed at South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, Bolzano
Two chunks of birch fungus on leather straps, possibly used to stanch bleeding and prevent infection, were part of a portable first-aid kit.
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Photograph by Robert Clark
All artifacts photographed at South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, Bolzano
The Iceman's dagger had a flint blade and a sheath.
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Photograph by Robert Clark
All artifacts photographed at South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, Bolzano
An ax with a blade of rare copper marked the Iceman as a person of status.
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Photograph by Robert Clark
All artifacts photographed at South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, Bolzano
Two arrows served for hunting and self-defense.
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Photograph by Robert Clark
All artifacts photographed at South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, Bolzano
A maple leaf found in the Iceman's pack would have been used to wrap embers; its chlorophyll content indicates the leaf was picked when green—most likely in late spring.
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Photograph by Robert Clark
All artifacts photographed at South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, Bolzano
A tangle of string, possibly bowstring, remains a knotty mystery.
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Photograph by Robert Clark
All artifacts photographed at South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, Bolzano
The Iceman's shoes—hay for warmth inside deerskin uppers with bearskin sole—are among the oldest ever found.
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Photograph by Robert Clark
Minutes before putting the Iceman back on display, pathologist Eduard Egarter Vigl coats the mummy with a fine spray of sterilized water, which freezes on contact to form a glistening glaze that protects him from contamination and reduces dehydration.
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Photograph by Robert Clark
In rigid (and frigid) repose, the Iceman resides in an igloo-like chamber at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy. At 21°F and 98.5 percent relative humidity, it mimics the glacial environment that preserved him for more than five millennia.
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Photograph by Robert Clark
The artists' model reflects the ruggedness of the Iceman in life and likely wear and tear on his mid-to late-40s body. Despite their efforts, the scientists failed to penetrate his mummified flesh far enough to reveal the final clue to the mystery of his death: the arrowhead that killed him.
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