When Ötzi was found where he died, high in the Ötztaler Alps in Austria, he started a scientific revolution. He last saw the light more than 5,000 years ago, and he emerged from the glacier in 1991, intact with his clothing and his weapons. He became “the most thoroughly examined patient of all time” : we know what he ate for his last meal, what injuries and illnesses he suffered during his life, and a great deal about how he and his companions lived, in the Europe of 5,000 years ago. Kurt Mündl and his team recreate Ötzi’s world, using high technology to investigate the distinctly low-tech way of life of our distant ancestors.
