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South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology

Ötzi
the Iceman

Ötzi and his artefacts have been exhibited at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy since 1998. Why is Ötzi so fascinating? We experience Ötzi almost like a time traveller.
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Permanent
exhibition

The permanent exhibition at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology is dedicated entirely to Ötzi, the Iceman. It is housed on three floors of the Museum and displays everything of interest about the world’s most famous glacier mummy.



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Opening times & Tickets

Find out about the opening times, tickets, entry fees and guided tours.

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News

Research work

The Iceman provides a unique window on the past. Never before has such an ancient and well-preserved frozen Neolithic mummy been found. Since his discovery in 1991, the Iceman has provided new data from prehistoric times for countless research disciplines around the globe, both in the natural sciences and in the humanities.

This has made the Iceman a unique example of how interdisciplinary research achieves positive results.
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Ötzi’s death

Experts were and still are researching various details of Ötzi’s life. In 2001, X-rays revealed the cause of death: The Iceman died from an injury caused by an arrow in his left shoulder. The arrowhead hit a main artery, so that he probably bled to death within a matter of minutes. There can be no doubt that Ötzi was murdered.

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State of health

Since Ötzi is a wet mummy and his tissue, bones and organs are well preserved, numerous examinations have been carried out on him to learn more about his state of health when he was alive.
Examination of the osteons in in Ötzi’s femur (thigh bone) put his likely age to be around 45.

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Reconstruction

The paleo artists Adrie and Alfons Kennis from the Netherlands have completed a life-like reconstruction of the Iceman on behalf of the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology. Thanks to forensic methods and fine craftsmanship, they were able to capture Ötzi’s facial features and reconstruct his body as realistically as possible.

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