Printed on August 27, 2007 National Geographic Channel

Recently in Death of the Iceman Category

Explorer: Death of the Iceman - Audience with the Iceman

By explorer

April 1, 2008 4:04 PM

Noel Dockstader

Producer, NGT

The hour was approaching to meet the most famous man in the Italian Alps, and I was getting a little nervous. On the drive into the city of Bolzano, you can’t miss the ten story high billboard of their hero plastered on the side of a building. Even Brad Pitt had a picture of the mystery man tattooed into his arm. The ‘Iceman’ is a cult hero, a pop idol, and a scientific marvel- this guy’s been dead for over 5,000 years. What is it about mummies that we just can’t get enough of? People come here from all over the world to catch a fleeting glimpse of the Iceman in the flesh. His remains were found in 1991, when a few hikers came across his head and shoulders sticking out of a glacier on a mountain summit. They had stumbled upon the oldest mummy ever found. Even more remarkable, his mummification was a total fluke. Unlike the Egyptian mummies, whose organs were removed and bodies embalmed, the Iceman was shot in the back with an arrow and left to rot. But somehow, he didn’t. Apparently scavenging animals never got a chance to gobble him up. Soon after he was killed, a snowstorm must have blown in and covered him. Over the years, he was packed in glacial ice. We were there to make a film about the theories behind his mysterious death. But today I had one gnawing question I couldn’t get out of my mind. What does 5,000-year-old flesh feel like? I had a juvenile urge to touch his skin and wiggle his toes. As I entered the imposing marble museum, I resolved to resist the urge. In pictures, the man the locals fondly call ‘Otzi’ looks brittle, like he would disintegrate at the slightest touch. Accidentally breaking off one of his digits would not be easily excused.

Continue reading Explorer: Death of the Iceman - Audience with the Iceman.

1 Comments

0 TrackBacks

Recently in Death of the Iceman Category

Explorer: Death of the Iceman - Audience with the Iceman

Community Links

Share This Blog

Recent Blog Comments

Monthly Archives

Categories

NAT GEO NEWSLETTER