Ötzi the Iceman was darker-skinned, balder than suspected

The 5,000 year old mummy was mostly descended from farmers who lived in present-day Turkey, German scientists say.

Ötzi was discovered in the Alps, preserved in ice, more than 5,000 years after his death | Photo Credit: Image: Marco Samadelli/AP/picture alliance

The 5,000 year old mummy was mostly descended from farmers who lived in present-day Turkey, German scientists say. Ötzi’s body was found in the Italian Alps more than three decades ago. New DNA analysis by German researchers shows the famous glacier mummy Ötzi had almost no hair and was more tanned than initially thought.

According to a study by the Leipzig-based Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, the Iceman’s genes also yielded fresh clues about his origins.

“Among the hundreds of early European people who lived at the same time as Ötzi and whose genomes are now available, Ötzi’s genome has more ancestry in common with early Anatolian farmers than any of his European counterparts,” the scientists said in the study, published on August 16 in the journal Cell Genomics.

Ötzi’s body was discovered in 1991 by two German hikers on a glacier in Italy’s Southern Tyrol. His body was remarkably well preserved due to the cold and a natural mummification process.

Died from an arrow wound

Ötzi died around the age of 45. He was approximately 1.60 metres tall and weighed roughly 50 kilograms (110 pounds). He also had brown eyes and sported over 60 tattoos.

Ever since his discovery more than 30 years ago, he has been a fascinating source of information for historians and anthropologists. Ötzi was armed with a copper axe and a longbow and wore a bearskin hat. Scientists have been able to conclude that he had a big meal of ibex meat and fat not long before his death, and that he died after being shot with an arrow between his rib cage and shoulder blade.

Researchers also believe the ancient man was suffering from stress, dental cavities, and lactose intolerance. More than likely, Ötzi also struggled with Lyme disease and a stomach infection.

But the latest DNA results provide new insights, forcing scientists to revise their findings about some of the most fundamental aspects of Ötzi the Iceman—his ancestry and appearance.

Ancestors came ‘directly from Anatolia’

Initial DNA analysis had earlier indicated Ötzi was related to eastern European steppe herders of his day. But it now appears that the original sample was contaminated by modern genetic material. The study published on August 16 suggests Ötzi had no traces of the eastern European tribes.

Johannes Krause, head of the Department of Archaeogenetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, said his team was “very surprised” by the results. “Genetically, his ancestors seem to have arrived directly from Anatolia without mixing with hunter-gatherer groups,” he said.

The researchers also deduced that Ötzi was bald, or almost bald when he died. This was genetic, as his genes show a “predisposition for baldness”, the study said.

The team also concluded that the Iceman was darker-skinned than initially thought. In life, his original skin colour was likely similar to his body’s present colour.

Scientists previously believed the Iceman was lighter-skinned and hairier, and that his mummified corpse had changed over time in the ice.