Iceman Ötzi’s Medical Records Are Similar to a Modern Person
Ancient humans suffered from the same diseases as us
In September 1991, two German hikers holidaying in the Alps at the Austria-Italy border discovered a shriveled frozen corpse.
Erika and Helmut Simon assumed it was the body of an unfortunate mountaineer who met with an accident, and they immediately alerted the authorities.
The find intrigued forensic experts. It wasn’t a lost hiker’s body but of a man who died almost 5000 years ago.
The frozen corpse came to be known as Iceman Ötzi, named after the Ötztal Alps, where he was discovered.
Ötzi lived between 3400 and 3150 BC during the Copper Age. His body was covered in over sixty tattoos.
Since the discovery, scientists have conducted detailed analyses of his body and his equipment, providing information on who he was, what he ate and wore, and the cause of his death.
His medical history caught my eye.
He had arteriosclerosis, or hardened arteries, and was one step away from a fatal heart attack.
Heart attacks are commonly associated with poor lifestyle choices such as excessive drinking, smoking, a lack of activity, and a poor diet. But here we have an…
