Reading improvement

 WHO KILLED 

THE 

?ICEMAN

In 1991, high in the mountains of Europe, hikers made a shocking discovery: a  

dead man partly frozen in the ice. The police investigation soon became a scientific  

one. Carbon dating1 indicated that the man died over 5,300 years ago. Today, he  

is known as the Iceman and nicknamed “Ötzi” for the Ötztal Alps where he was  

found. Kept in perfect condition by the ice, he is the oldest complete human body  

found on Earth. 

Who Was the Iceman? 

Scientists believe Ötzi was an important person in his village. Examinations of his  

teeth and skull tell us he was in his mid-forties when he died. The things he carried  

also tell us about who he was. His knife was made of stone, but he carried a copper2 

ax. This was a valuable tool in Ötzi’s time and suggests that he may have been a  

local leader. A fire-starting kit was discovered with him, so we know he could  

make fire. And the food he ate and carried enabled scientists to know exactly  

where in Italy he lived—a village down in the valley. 

Clues to an Ancient Murder 

But why did Ötzi die in such a high and icy place? Some said he was a lost farmer  

or shepherd.3 

 Others thought he was killed in a religious ceremony. No one knows  

for sure.  

Over the years, tiny scientific discoveries have led to great changes in our  

understanding of Ötzi’s story. “[Once], the story was that he fled up there and  

walked around in the snow and probably died of exposure,”4 

 said scientist Klaus  

Oeggl. “Now it’s all changed. … It’s more like a … crime scene.” 

WHO KILLED 

THE 

ICEMAN? 

1 Carbon dating is a scientific method of finding out  

how old an object is. 

2 Copper is a soft, reddish brown metal. 

3 A shepherd is a person who takes care 

 of sheep. 

4 Exposure is the harmful effect on your  

body from very cold weather. 

A Bloody Discovery 

In fact, the newest scientific information indicates Ötzi was cruelly murdered. In  

June 2001, an X-ray of the body showed a small dark shape beneath Ötzi’s left  

shoulder. It was the stone head of an arrow that had hit him from behind. CT scans  

showed that this caused an injury that killed him very quickly. 

Then, in 2003, an Australian scientist discovered the blood of four other people on  

Ötzi’s clothes. Was Ötzi killed in a fight? It isn’t likely, as Ötzi’s other injuries, on  

his hand and head, had already started to close. This means there probably was a  

fight, but it happened much earlier. 

Perhaps Ötzi was being chased when he died? In 2010, scientists took the mummy  

out of the cold and examined him again. They discovered that just before his death,  

he had a big meal of bread and goat meat. In 2018, further analysis of his stomach  

showed Ötzi had also eaten deer meat. Would someone being chased stop to eat  

a large meal? The scientists don’t think so. More likely, he was attacked while  

resting. He may have thought he had escaped and was safe. Today, the research  

continues, proving some of these ideas as false while opening the door to others.  

Ötzi, it seems, has more to tell us about his life and the time in which he lived.