c. 5300 B.C.

Scientist: Ötzi the Iceman Died Violently
By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News

March 20, 2002 - A violent hand-to-hand encounter marked the last hours of Ötzi the Iceman, the world's oldest and best-preserved mummy, according to dramatic findings that emerged during filming of a Discovery Channel documentary.

Eduard Egarter Vigl, official caretaker of the 5,300-year-old mummy at the Archaeological Museum in Bolzano*, Italy, announced Wednesday that he had found a deep knife wound on the mummy's right hand. Probably the result of a defensive act, the wound dates back to Ötzi's last hours and, combined with the arrowhead found in the man's left shoulder last summer, supports the theory that he was the victim of violence.

See Ötzi the Iceman