Conservation Officer for Ötzi

The Conservation Officer of the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology works closely with the Museum’s conservation technicians and is responsible for ensuring optimum conservation of the 5,300-year-old wet mummy found on Tisenjoch. The duties of the Conservation Officer include constant monitoring of Ötzi’s state of conservation, implementation of measures to prevent moisture loss, approval of new research applications in terms of their compatibility with conservation efforts, sampling for research purposes and supervision of the globally unique cold cell.

Following an international invitation to submit applications, which was drawn up by the Museum’s Advisory Board, a committee made up of members of the Advisory Board interviewed all the applicants and recommended forensic scientist Dr Oliver Peschel as the most suitable candidate for the post.

Peschel, born in 1964, is a researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Forensic Medicine of Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and has been involved in research projects on mummies and the Iceman in the past.

Dr Marco Samadelli is in charge of technical supervision of the cold cell. Dr Samadelli works for the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology as well as the EURAC Institute for Mummies.