Otzi, the Iceman's Clothes, Shoes and Tattoos | Early European History And Religion

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OTZI, THE ICEMAN'S CLOTHES

Otzi's leggings

The "Iceman" carried a backpack and wore three layers of clothes: woven grass cape, believed to be a prehistoric raincoat, fur leggings, and goatskin undergarments, straw insulated leather shoes, a coat of leather and goat fur, and a brown-bear -fur hat. All of Otzi’s clothes came from animal hides which suggest woven fabrics were not common. Almost everything that is known about Neolithic clothing has been gleaned from Otzi.

Otzi wore hay-stuffed shoes, a goat- and sheepskin coat, goatskin leggings, bear fur hat, grass matting and sheepskin loincloth. His shoelaces were made of cow-leather. His quiver was fashioned from the skin of a roe deer. Kristin Romey of National Geographic wrote: “Due to the decomposition of the leather and fur over thousands of years, however, researchers have been unable to conclusively pinpoint specific animal species for some of the components of Ötzi's wardrobe. Understanding the choice of animals used in ancient clothing production—domestic or wild, local or imported—provides unique insights into the human past: Was the clothing worn purely for utility, or did it reflect the social status of the wearer? Were animal skins selected solely due to their availability, or were certain types of leathers and furs prized for specific qualities? [Source: Kristin Romey, National Geographic, August 18, 2016 \=]

“It’s not chaotic,” study author Frank Maixner of the Institute for Mummies and the Iceman told Smithsonian Magazine. For example, cow leather, which was found in Otzi's shoes, was the sturdiest material on his body — suggesting his boots were made for walking. Sheep leather, which made up parts of his striped coat, would have kept him warmer than other materials. And his leggings are made of the same material as some other Copper Age legwear found nearby, suggesting that goatskin was chosen for a reason. “It’s really ordered, there’s a structure, there’s a fashion, in my eyes," Maixner said. [Source: Rachel Feltman, Washington Post, August 18, 2016]

Analysis of Otzi's Clothes: From Five Different Animals

A 2016 study concluded that Otzi’s wardrobe was assembled from five different animal species based on existing DNA information and examinations of his his coat, loincloth, leggings, shoe bindings, hat, and quiver. According to Archaeology magazine: The analysis indicates that the coat (sheep and goat), loincloth (sheep), leggings (goat), and shoe bindings (cow) were made from domesticated animals, which were readily available through husbandry or trade. The fur hat (brown bear) and quiver (roe deer) were fabricated from the skins of wild species, and may have been acquired through hunting or scavenging. [Source: Jason Urbanus, Archaeology magazine, November-December 2016]

Otzi's bearskin cap

Kristin Romey of National Geographic wrote: ““Researchers were able to capture ancient DNA markers in nine samples of leather and fur from different articles of the Iceman's clothing. According to their study published in Scientific Reports, Ötzi's attire choices were selective and pragmatic. They confirmed that Ötzi's leather loincloth and hide coat were "haphazardly" stitched from sheepskin, an identification already made in previous studies. However, the genetic analysis revealed that the sheep species sampled is closer to modern domestic European sheep than to their wild cousins, and that the articles were fashioned from the skins of at least four animals. [Source: Kristin Romey, National Geographic, August 18, 2016 \=]

“The analysis showed that part of Ötzi's coat was also made from domesticated goat belonging to a mitochondrial haplogroup (a genetic population that shares a common female ancestor) that still roams the hills and valleys of central Europe today. The fact that the coat was made from at least several animals belonging to at least two different species leads the researchers to conclude that the Iceman's coat was stitched together, and possibly repaired with, any hides that were handy at the time. \=\

“On the other hand, Ötzi's leggings were also crafted from domesticated goat leather, and not a species of wolf, fox or dog as previously thought. The fact that a similar pair of 6,500-year-old leggings discovered in Switzerland were also fashioned from goat leather suggests that it may have been a material deliberately chosen for its specific qualities. Shoelaces fashioned from the predominant European genetic population of cattle round out the domesticated species identified in the tests on the clothing samples. While Ötzi likely lived a life of farming and herding, he may have also hunted and trapped wild animals in his alpine environment. Genetic analysis shows that his quiver was made from wild roe deer, while his fur hat was fashioned from a genetic lineage of brown bear still seen in the region today.” \=\

The research was carried out by scientists from Ireland and Italy who published their results in the journal Scientific Reports.“The main question of study was to see what species these leathers were from and then the secondary question was are these species domestic varieties or not,” said Niall O’Sullivan, first author of the research from the Institute for Mummies and the Iceman in Bolzano, Italy. Ron Pinhasi, co-author of the research from University College, Dublin said the findings show that Ötzi was “pretty picky” when it came to his choice of skins. “To me it seems pretty sophisticated in terms of the capacities to use so many different materials from different animals,” he said. According to the Washington Post, Frank Maixner of the Institute for Mummies wrote an article on Otzi clothes published in Nature Reports. [Source: Nicola Davis, The Guardian August 18, 2016]

Iceman's Shoes

Otzi’s shoes had fiber and bear-skin and deer-skin leather sections and were held together with a leather strap. The soles were made of bearskins tanned with bear brains and liver Still on his foot when was found was leather boot with an upper flap sewn onto a bottom sole, a sock-like net liner and laces made of grass rope. He placed insulating grass in the net liner and then put his foot into the liner.

replica of Otzi's shoes at the Bata Museum

In 2004, Petr Hlavlcek, a Czech professor of shoe technology at the Tomas Bata University in the Czech republic, made a pair of shoes like those worn by Otzi — with bearskin soles and grass insulation — and went hiking with them. Not only did he not develop any blisters he said the shoes were more comfortable and better for walking than modern hiking boots.

Hlavlcek walked the 12 mile distance to the glacier where Otzi was found. He said when he stepped into a stream he felt no discomfort. He told Discover magazine, “The shoes were full of water but after three seconds it was very warm” and had a “comfortable feeling. This is because this layer of hay if full of air holes and air is the best warm insulation.”

Ötzi’s Tattoos

Otzi’s holds the world record for having the oldest known and corroborated tattoos. He has 61 of them inked all over his body and they are 5,300 years old. The bluish-black tattoos are found mainly on three parts of his body: 1) a set of parallel blue lines on his lower back, 2) stripes on his right foot and ankle and 3) lines on his left calf.

Geometric tattoos on Ötzi’s chest suggest that his his tattoos had some kind of ritual, ceremonial, or even religious purpose. There is a cross-shaped tattoo on his knee. The series of parallel lines tattooed on his right ankle may there for pain relief. [Source: Erin Blakemore, National Geographic,, June 5, 2023]

Katie Hunt of CNN wrote: Why did Ötzi have so many tattoos? One explanation put forth in the scientific literature is that they were an ancient healing technique, a bit similar to an early form of acupuncture, rather than body art. Many of the tattoos could have been an ancient way to treat joint pain in his lower back, knees, hip and wrists. [Source: Katie Hunt, CNN, April 10, 2024]

“We don’t disagree with the idea that they could have been therapeutic. I think all of it’s on the table. Just because something has given us a therapeutic treatment doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have culturally symbolic value,” said Aaron Deter-Wolf, lead author of the study described below and a prehistoric archaeologist at the Tennessee Division of Archaeology who has a tattoo similar to one of Ötzi’s on his wrist.

CAT scans showed that the tattoos were located at places where Otzi had cartilage damage and probably had arthritis or joint page. The tattoos were probably made by injecting ash beneath the skin with a bone or wooden needle. Their location closely corresponds with the traditional acupuncture points for the treatment of backaches and upset stomachs.

How Ötzi’s Tattoos Were Made

Initial analysis suggested that Otzi’s tattoos were incised with a blade and then impregnated with black pigment. But research published in the European Journal of Archaeology on March 13, 2024 strongly suggests a single-point puncture tool, tipped with carbon pigment was probably used. “One of the threads we identified is that a lot of the work that was done on his tattoos initially was done by scholars who were excellent scholars but they were not themselves tattooed and didn’t have personal experience with the tattooing process,” said Deter-Wolf., lead author of the study and a prehistoric archaeologist at the Tennessee Division of Archaeology who has a tattoo similar to one of Ötzi’s on his wrist.“Over the years, I’ve had numerous conversations with professional tattooists and when you get talking about it and looking at the pictures, they say, oh, no, oh, no, those absolutely are not cut into the skin … but that hadn’t been shown in a scientifically sound setting” [Source: Katie Hunt, CNN, April 10, 2024]

20120207-Otzi Museum tattoo.jpg
tattoo
Katie Hunt of CNN wrote: The study reviewed existing literature on Ötzi’s tattoos and drew on present-day experiments replicating ancient tattooing techniques. “Most of them were on the lower legs and ankles. One on the left wrist and there’s a set of them on the lower back around the cervical spine,” Deter-Wolf said. “They’re lines that are in some cases crossed but more often parallel to one another. They range from two (lines) to five or six of them.”

The tattoos on Ötzi ’s body have rounded edges consistent with a hand-poked tattoo, most likely made with a bone or copper, Deter-Wolf said. In contrast, incision tattooing creates edges that are pointed because of the way the lines are cut into the skin. “There’s a variation within the line because you’re putting in all of these individual punctures so closely to each other and how much they overlap results in kind of a stippling effect when you look at it under high enough magnification.”

A bone awl Ötzi carried in his tool kit was a potential candidate but has yet to be studied in detail to confirm whether microscopic wear marks are consistent with a tattooing function. However, Deter-Wolf thinks it’s unlikely. “It’s strongly evocative in (the) context (of a) woodsman’s kit rather than a tattooing kit.”

Experiments That Determined How Otzi was Tattooed

Deter-Wolf worked with New Zealand tattoo artists Danny Riday for his experiments to determine how Otzi was tattooed. Tim Newcomb wrote in Popular Mechanics: The team tattooed Riday using eight different tools and four tattooing techniques in the same exact designs as found on Ötzi. They chronicled the way the wounds healed, the lines of the ink, and the way the tattoos aged, and compared Riday’s tattoos with those of Ötzi to find the closest match. [Source: Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, March 18, 2024]

Tools were the first key in the experiment — animal bones, obsidian, copper, boar tusk, and a modern steel needle were all part of the process. All tools in the experiment were crafted using traditional or pre-electric technologies, when possible, the authors wrote when discussing the study, to ensure continuity with archaeological materials. Techniques included hand-tapping, hand-poking, incision, and subdermal tattooing, the last of which requires a bone to puncture the skin twice.

The finding that hand-poking with either animal bone or a copper awl is the most likely method used differs from early theory that gained traction in the mainstream discussion of Ötzi — that the tattoo-like markings were created by an incision getting filled with plant matter that was then set on fire. Each tattoo pattern was executed with a single tool type and technique, and featured both commercial black tattoo ink and a soot-based ink harvested from burning kauri tree resin mixed with powdered charcoal, alcohol, and coconut oil in order to “examine possible variations between natural and commercially produced tattoo pigment.”

“Our findings reveal that there are discernible variations in tattoos created using different tools and techniques,” the team wrote. “This data may be applied to the study of preserved remains from archaeological and museum collections, as well as to analysis of historical imagery and traditions, to illuminate previously unknown aspects of the associated cultures.” “We ultimately proposed that Ötzi’s tattoos were made by puncture, likely using either a bone of copper awl,” Deter-Wolf told ScienceAlert. “Those types of artifacts appear in the archaeological record of the region, but none have ever been identified as tattooing tools. We hope this paper will inspire archaeologists to reassess how artifacts may have been used, and maybe discover actual Copper Age tattooing tools.”

Were Ötzi’s Tattoos a Form of Acupuncture?

Otzi had 61 tattoos on his body — the oldest known. CAT scans the tattoos were located at places where Otzi had cartilage damage and probably had arthritis or joint page. The tattoos were probably made by injecting ash beneath the skin with a bone or wooden needle. Their location closely corresponds with the traditional acupuncture points for the treatment of backaches and upset stomachs.

"The tattoos are all located at body regions where the iceman had some health issues and probably experienced periods of pain. For example, he had degenerative diseases of his hip, knee, ankle joints and lower back. Most of the tattoos are located [on] the legs and the lower back,"Albert Zink, head of the Eurac Research Institute for Mummy Studies in Bolzano, Italy, told Live Science. [Source: Tia Ghose, Live Science , September 27, 2018]

“Chest tattoos may have been used to soothe belly discomfort; he had intestinal parasites and a Helicobacter pylori infection. And some of the inked spots corresponded to traditional acupuncture "pressure points," suggesting to some researchers that the iceman underwent a form of acupuncture, Zink said. Most scientists believe acupuncture first arose in China, and the first written description of it derives from 2,200 years ago, but it could have arisen earlier in some other location, like Europe, Zink said.

Image Sources: Otzi Museum, South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: National Geographic, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Nature, Scientific American. Live Science, Discover magazine, Discovery News, The Times of London, Natural History magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, The Guardian, Reuters, AP, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides and various books and other publications.

Last updated May 2024