The 5,300-year-old Alpine mummy known as the Tyrolean Iceman died wearing leather clothes and accessories harvested from no less than five wild or domesticated species, a DNA analysis published Thursday revealed.
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A 5,300-year-old natural mummy gives a surviving example of ancient leather and fur manufacturing technologies, which are extremely interesting for biologists and genetics.
The researchers say this points to Copper Age people choosing carefully between different wild and domesticated animals when looking for materials to make their clothes.
He was also found with a coat, loincloth and leggings made of goat skin and hide, shoes of bear fur, leather and grass, belt of calf’s leather and a woven object made of grass that may have served as a cape or backpack.
“It clarifies what we already knew – that the Iceman was an agropastoralist; that the majority the food and resources that he used were of domestic origin”, said…
“But we also know, from earlier experiments, that he supplemented his living with food from wild sources”.
The choices they made with respect to which animals to use, they claim, were likely dependent on availability, necessity, functionality and symbolism.
These various leathers were all identified based on mitochondrial DNA…
Since his frozen corpse was discovered in the Italian Ötztal Alps in 1991, researchers have analyzed every discernable aspect of the Iceman’s life, from his diet and medical history to the tools he used.
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“To me it seems pretty sophisticated in terms of the capacities to use so many different materials from different animals”, study co-author Ron Pinhas from University College, Dublin, tells The Guardian. “We were very happy with that”.
