Otzi the 5,300-year-old iceman’s mystery tattoos finally deciphered as experts claim inkings were acupuncture treatment for injuries
Otzi, a frozen 5,300-year-old man found mummified in a glacier in the Alps in 1991, has been examined multiple times by scientists
MYSTERIOUS tattoos adorning a 5,300-year-old mummified corpse known as "Otzi the Iceman" may have been inscribed as a primitive form of acupuncture, experts claim.
Otzi, a frozen 5,300-year-old man, was found in 1991 in a glacier in the Alps between what is now Austria and Italy.
Since the discovery, Otzi has been examined by multiple teams of scientists, with new chest tattoos among the more recent discoveries.
Some now believe that he may have benefited from a form of prehistoric healthcare after they found tattoo markings they claim are actually acupuncture wounds on his remains.
Scientists have previously organised these tattoos into 19 different groups, each of which form a set of horizontal or vertical lines.
According to , they cluster around joints and the lower back - where Otzi suffered from degeneration.
However, researchers who put forth the acupuncture claim still do not know if the tattoos demarcated the areas for acupuncture treatment, or if they were the treatment itself.
It also still remains a theory, as they have noted he had markings across his chest where he suffered no known ailments.
Meanwhile, according to Albert Zink of the Institute for Mummy Research in Bolzano, new findings show that healthcare at the time of the iceman was surprisingly well developed.
Bolzano scientists found that Otzi, who lived to 40 or 50 years of age, probably had some chronic health problems.
A careful study of his remains showed that his teeth were carious, he suffered with stomach ulcers, his joints were worn out and his blood vessels were calcified.
Zink claims that Otzi was treated for his medical conditions by prehistoric doctors.
Researchers found traces of birch polypore fungi in Otzi's belongings which have anti-inflammatory and antibiotic properties.
They also found bracken which was used to combat intestinal parasites.
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Upon a more careful study of Otzi's body, Zink and his colleagues discovered that the iceman's skin was actually covered with 61 tattoos.
To make the tattoos, coal dust was rubbed into small wounds similar to the insertion of acupuncture needles, which according to Zink is a time-consuming and skillful endeavour.
Earlier this year, experts found undisputed proof that Otzi died from an arrow injury.
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