Bending over a rock hikers found Ötzi in 1991on the Italian side of the Hauslabjoch, which connects Vintschgau in the south to the Austrian Ötz valley in the north. Even though authorities at first suspected the deceased to be a missing alpinist, judging by the unusual objects and remainders of his clothing it soon became clear that this person must have lived in a much earlier period. Lively research activity commenced and revealed, amongst other things, that the Iceman lived approximately 5000 years ago, that he was 45 years old when he met his death and that he had eaten venison and mountain goat meat.

One thing, however, remained unclear. Where did he come from, where had he lived? Although scientists concluded from pollen in his intestines and moss on his clothes that he was probably living on the southern Tyrol side before he died, further places where he had spent his life could not be determined – until now. There were no pottery objects , for example, which would have helped to assign him to a specific culture. A new study with ETH participation was published last week in "Science" (1). The study indicates that Iceman lived, for the greater part of his life, in Southern Tyrol.

Teeth, bones, intestinal content

To find out more, scientists carried out research on Iceman, analysing his teeth, bones and the contents of his intestines. On analysing the isotopic composition of these diverse bodily samples and comparing them with samples taken from soil and rock from the regions south and north of the place where his body was found, they came to the conclusion that Iceman must have lived in what is today's South Tyrol. Lead and strontium isotopes from tooth enamel – which researchers know to be "archives of childhood" – showed, for example, that Iceman could not have grown up in a region dominated by limestone or Perm volcanics but in a region where gneisses or phyllites occur.

A new study shows that Iceman came from South Tyrol (Copyright: Fotoarchiv des Südtiroler Archäologiemuseums) large

In the region under investigation a number of places fit this geological characterisation, and they are all located to the south of the alpine watershed that divides Austrian and Italy. Further analyses of the composition of Iceman's bones, which provide insights into the adult life of a person, together with the content of his intestines indicate that he travelled during his adult life, but never lived north of the Alps.

New insights thanks to technological progress

"By identifying Iceman's origins we can say without a doubt that he died near his home," concludes Wolfgang Müller, researcher at ETH and The Australian National University in Canberra, in a summary of the study. In its turn, this proves that the southern alpine valleys were permanently inhabited and that Iceman was not a lost mountain rambler. For ETH Professor Alex Hallyday, co-author of the study and head of the Zurich Radiogenic Isotope Geochemistry Lab where the isotopic analyses were carried out, the work shows that progress in the area of isotope analysis has increased its areas of application.

This new discovery on Iceman's origins will perhaps stop malicious tongues claiming that Iceman was a civil servant, even though it seems likely that only such a one could be caught off guard by a glacier.