Who was "Ötzi"?
Ötzi, also known as the Man from Tisenjoch, the Man from Hauslabjoch, the Man from the Ice, the Mummy from Similaun, etc. is a glacier mummy from the late Neolithic period, or Chalcolithic, that was discovered in 1991 in the Ötztal Alps (South Tyrol). Radiocarbon dating determined the man's time of death to 3258 ± 89 BC. This makes Ötzi the oldest known natural human mummy. His study has provided numerous insights into the lives of Stone Age people in Europe.
Bow and arrows
The axe, which was also found, was used to work on the not yet fully finished yew bow. It is 1.80 m long. CT scans of the cross-section show that the bow has horizontal growth rings and that the outer side of the trunk forms the back of the bow, as is typical for Neolithic yew bows. One question that has not yet been fully resolved is the sapwood on the back, as it is either completely missing or, due to secondary coloration, is no longer distinguishable from the darker heartwood.
The bow does not have a smooth surface, but rather features a very regular pattern of small carved notches on all sides, made either with a flat copper axe or with flint blades. The absence of string notches alone is not evidence of the bow's unfinished state, as these can be eliminated by using two tightly knotted string ears and/or wrapping the limb ends with straps as string stops. Experiments with replica yew bows have shown that these have lethal penetrating power against hoofed game even at 30–50 meters.
The 14 arrows were made from woolly viburnum wood. Only two shafts still retain their flint arrowheads, which were glued and attached with plant fibers and birch tar. The arrow fletching was also glued with birch tar and wrapped with a cord. The nocking notches were deeply cut (so-called "self-nocks"), allowing the arrows to be firmly nocked into the string.
flint dagger
The dagger included in the equipment has a flint blade and an ashwood handle. This flint contains tiny fossils, known in this composition only from a mine in the municipality of Sant'Anna d'Alfaedo in the Lessini Mountains east of Lake Garda.
The retoucher, a linden wood pencil into which the fire-hardened shaving of a deer's antler was inserted, was used to work on flint edges.
Source: Wikipedia
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