This was fascinating. It seems reasonable that someone in ancient times could have had parasites and worn joints from physical movement, but being on the verge of a heart attack is surprising! I'm surprised his axe was still with him. If he was murdered, I'd think the culprit would have taken it with them. Unless it was part of a larger skirmish and they didn't spend time looking or caring for wounded.
So the initial suggestion by forensic experts was that he was shot by an arrow. But after they found traces of four different blood samples on his body, there were suggestions of a skirmish. Another theory says he was killed elsewhere and buried up in the mountains which I found a bit unconvincing.
There's yet another theory by a forensic expert which suggests there were two skirmishes one down the valley, then someone stalked and ambushed him up the hill. Otzi wins the first fight but is killed in the second one. Really interesting topic!
That sounds super interesting! Based solely on this read and discussion, that seems fairly plausible. The fact there aren't several other bodies around Otzi suggests to me it was a fairly isolated event. It would be hard to well-preserve a single body and nothing else around it... Just another reason I wish I had a crystal ball and go back and watch history unfold!
I've come to think of ancient humans as being essentially just like modern humans, but like today's super-athletes. These elite modern-day warriors will sometimes succumb to genetic diseases or become ill for another reason, and you're certainly right to point out that they didn't have it all that great back then.
Let's talk about those mushrooms a bit. You mentioned medicine; are we including recreational/spiritual drug use in that classification too? If not, should we?
In case of Otzi we aren't 100% sure, but recreation spiritual drug use in that era wouldn't be uncommon, in fact recently they found a cave in Spain where shamans gathered for consuming recreational/spiritual drugs, probably part of a ritual. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-31064-2
Yeah. I have the strong suspicion that the ritualistic use (or just for pleasure) of mushrooms and most other drugs long predates the medical use. I know the medicinal tends to blend into the "spiritual" use too, since "let's go get super duper high" was one way to try to treat ailments in the past, but I find it dubious that any kind of practical use of something that makes you feel euphoric would be emphasized above the (much more direct and simple) pleasure impulse.
The Yale study found Lyme disease in Americas by sequencing genomes of deer ticks before human arrival. That has little to do with Otzi being the first known carrier of the disease in humans.
Correct, the point is humans have been exposed to this for a very long time and no surprise it was a carrier though medical science discovered lately, nevertheless a thought provoking article
Good questions. Otzi had four different blood samples on his body, there was a skirmish most probably. Could that explain why his attackers left the possessions?
This was fascinating. It seems reasonable that someone in ancient times could have had parasites and worn joints from physical movement, but being on the verge of a heart attack is surprising! I'm surprised his axe was still with him. If he was murdered, I'd think the culprit would have taken it with them. Unless it was part of a larger skirmish and they didn't spend time looking or caring for wounded.
So the initial suggestion by forensic experts was that he was shot by an arrow. But after they found traces of four different blood samples on his body, there were suggestions of a skirmish. Another theory says he was killed elsewhere and buried up in the mountains which I found a bit unconvincing.
Thanks for the extra info. Great article!
There's yet another theory by a forensic expert which suggests there were two skirmishes one down the valley, then someone stalked and ambushed him up the hill. Otzi wins the first fight but is killed in the second one. Really interesting topic!
That sounds super interesting! Based solely on this read and discussion, that seems fairly plausible. The fact there aren't several other bodies around Otzi suggests to me it was a fairly isolated event. It would be hard to well-preserve a single body and nothing else around it... Just another reason I wish I had a crystal ball and go back and watch history unfold!
I've come to think of ancient humans as being essentially just like modern humans, but like today's super-athletes. These elite modern-day warriors will sometimes succumb to genetic diseases or become ill for another reason, and you're certainly right to point out that they didn't have it all that great back then.
Let's talk about those mushrooms a bit. You mentioned medicine; are we including recreational/spiritual drug use in that classification too? If not, should we?
In case of Otzi we aren't 100% sure, but recreation spiritual drug use in that era wouldn't be uncommon, in fact recently they found a cave in Spain where shamans gathered for consuming recreational/spiritual drugs, probably part of a ritual. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-31064-2
Yeah. I have the strong suspicion that the ritualistic use (or just for pleasure) of mushrooms and most other drugs long predates the medical use. I know the medicinal tends to blend into the "spiritual" use too, since "let's go get super duper high" was one way to try to treat ailments in the past, but I find it dubious that any kind of practical use of something that makes you feel euphoric would be emphasized above the (much more direct and simple) pleasure impulse.
1)H.pylori is part of normal human flora and part of ancient human.
2)Lyme disease bacteria also goes back 60000 years as per Yale study
3)Heart condition could also be due to heavy meat diet
The Yale study found Lyme disease in Americas by sequencing genomes of deer ticks before human arrival. That has little to do with Otzi being the first known carrier of the disease in humans.
Correct, the point is humans have been exposed to this for a very long time and no surprise it was a carrier though medical science discovered lately, nevertheless a thought provoking article
Good questions. Otzi had four different blood samples on his body, there was a skirmish most probably. Could that explain why his attackers left the possessions?