ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The significance of the Tyrolean Iceman for the archaeobotanyof Central Europe

Klaus Oeggl

Received: 19 December 2007 / Accepted: 19 May 2008 / Published online: 14 October 2008

� Springer-Verlag 2008

Abstract This paper reviews the archaeobotanical

research conducted on the plant material recovered from

the Iceman0s body, his garment and equipment, as well as

that from the sediments of the gully in which the body was

discovered more than 15 years ago. These recent results are

discussed against the background of the archaeological

findings during the last few years and disclose both con-

formities and discrepancies of the disciplinary-centred

views. In particular the archaeobotanical results concerning

the season of death as well as the taphonomic interpretation

of the find assemblage give cause for controversial

discussions and constitute the future research focus. Fur-

thermore, the singularity of this discovery demands an

evaluation of the archaeobotanical findings within a cir-

cum-alpine context to reveal the representativeness of this

find assemblage for the inner alpine Neolithic. This was the

objective of a specific symposium at the 17th International

Botanical Congress in Vienna in 2005.

Keywords Iceman � Glacier mummy � Otzi � Neolithic �Alps � Austria � Italy

Introduction

More than 15 years after the sensational discovery of the

Neolithic Tyrolean Iceman ‘‘Otzi’’ in the glacier region of

the Otztal Mountains (Fig. 1) scientists from various dis-

ciplines are still trying to determine Otzi0s fate. The

embedding in the perpetual ice of the body with almost all

of his belongings ensured the conservation of materials

which usually would have disintegrated in the soil within a

short time (e.g. leather, lichens, liverworts, etc.). The few

degradation processes that still operated had only a slight

impact on the organic material and this led to exceedingly

good preservation of the find assemblage. Consequently,

highly detailed and important information came to light.

Since 1991 many archaeological, archaeobotanical, medi-

cal and palaeo-forensic studies on the Tyrolean Iceman,

Otzi, have provided a considerable insight into the life style

of Neolithic humankind in the Alps (e.g. Bortenschlager

and Oeggl 2000; Hopfel et al. 1992; Spindler 1993; Spin-

dler et al. 1995, 1996).

However, the events of his demise are still obscure and

remain to be clarified. The first assumed cause of death by

exhaustion and hypothermia (Seidler et al. 1992; Spindler

1993) has been refuted by recent radiological investiga-

tions of the body, which showed an arrow head in the left

shoulder of the Iceman (Gostner and Egarter-Vigl 2002).

The arrow head had burst the left subclavicular artery,

causing a rapid bleeding to death (Pernter et al. 2007;

Lippert et al. 2007).

Whereas our knowledge about the bodily constitution

and the equipment of Otzi is fairly good, his social back-

ground is largely vague. Until his discovery the knowledge

of Neolithic colonisation of this inner alpine region was

poor and still remains so. Certainly, several stray finds of

artefacts document the presence of man in this inner alpine

area. To date only three copper age settlements are known

in the nearer surroundings of the Iceman0s find spot, all of

them south of the main alpine range; moreover, all are in

the Vinschgau (Steiner 2007).

However, one great importance of the Otzi find assem-

blage consists of the fact that, with him, a brief section of

the life of a Neolithic man was frozen in glacier ice and the

K. Oeggl (&)

Institut fur Botanik, Universitat Innsbruck, Sternwartestrasse 15,

6020 Innsbruck, Austria

e-mail: klaus.oeggl@uibk.ac.at

123

Veget Hist Archaeobot (2009) 18:1–11

DOI 10.1007/s00334-008-0186-2

excellent preservation of organic material gives an

unprecedented and wonderful insight into a small part of the

everyday life of a Neolithic man. However, to evaluate the

representativeness of this unique finding for the archaeol-

ogy of the inner alpine area we have to integrate it with our

knowledge from the adjacent areas. During the last decades

palaeoethnobotanical studies in the circum-alpine forelands

have produced new and cogent results about Neolithic liv-

ing conditions (e.g. Schibler et al. 1997; Jacomet et al. 2004;

Maier 2004; Kohler-Schneider and Caneppele 2007; Jaco-

met 2008; Jeraj et al. 2008; Rottoli and Castiglioni 2008).

This knowledge of Neolithic everyday life, obtained mainly

from lake-dwelling sites with similar good preservation of

organic material and contemporaneous with Otzi, consti-

tutes a massive data base for comparison with Otzi0sequipment and plant material.

Lifestyle of the Iceman

Our detailed information about the lifestyle of the Iceman is

based on both on-site and off-site data. The on-site data are

represented by his wooden artefacts, plant macro remains

recovered during two archaeological excavations at the

discovery site (Figs. 1, 2) in 1991 and 1992 (Lippert 1992;

Bagolini et al. 1995), as well as the micro and macro fossil

content of the food residue from Otzi0s intestines. They

provide information about Neolithic edible and otherwise

useful plants, the making and suitability of his equipment,

prehistoric diet, the season of his death, his social status,

palaeo-environment and the taphonomy of the find assem-

blage (Oeggl and Schoch 2000; Oeggl 2000; Oberhuber and

Knapp 2000; Rott 2000; Peintner and Poder 2000; Dickson

et al. 2003, 2005). Off-site data are represented by paly-

nological analyses of peat deposits from mires in the nearer

and wider vicinity of the discovery site, which reveal the

vegetation and climate history as well as human impact on

the vegetation during the time of the Iceman (Bortensch-

lager 2000).

His equipment

Otzi0s clothing and gear document his sound knowledge of

the specific properties of each raw material his equipment

is made of and his good adaptation to the inner alpine

Fig. 2 The discovery site at the

Tisenjoch: the mummy was

lying in a prone position on the

boulder in the front of the right

side of the picture. � South

Tyrol Museum of Archaeology

Fig. 1 Hydrographical map of the investigation area with the

discovery site of the Iceman marked with an asterisk

2 Veget Hist Archaeobot (2009) 18:1–11

123

environment. All in all it can be said that Otzi was well

equipped, each object fashioned from the material best

suited to its purpose (Dickson et al. 2005). He had been

dressed in leggings, a loin cloth and a jacket of goatskin.

His shoes were made of red deerskin with bearskin soles.

His hat was also sewn bearskin (Groenman-van Waateringe

1993). His shoes were stuffed with grass and fixed with a

network of lime (Tilia) bark strings (Fig. 3e). This grass

filling served as insulation material and consists mainly of

Brachypodium pinnatum and Nardus stricta with a minor

admixture of three different Festuca-types, one Agrostis-

type and Cyperaceae (Fig. 4). More than two-thirds of the

grass species from the shoes could not be identified to

species level due to their bad preservation. This is a pity,

because it is to be expected that the Iceman collected the

insulation material for his shoes from one site and most

likely the species composition reflects a palaeo-biocoeno-

sis. Also his cape (Fig. 3a) was made of grass; with vertical

bundles of B. pinnatum which were tied together by lime

(Tilia) bast strings (Acs et al. 2005).

He was armed with a copper axe, a long bow and a

quiver with 14 arrows (Fig. 5) and a flint dagger (Fig. 3c).

Both the axe shaft and the bow were made of yew (Taxus

baccata), the best wood for this purpose because of its

great tensile strength. In contrast with the axe the long bow

is unfinished and unfit for use, which can be seen by the

obvious whittling marks visible all over the surface and by

the lack of a grip or notches or other form of attachment for

the bow string. Side branches are visible in the limbs of the

bow and therefore it was made from a yew log and not

from a branch. The log had a minimum diameter of 8 cm,

most probably even more, since the lighter-coloured sap-

wood was removed (Oberhuber and Knapp 2000). The

profile is trimmed precisely to the direction of the tree rings

in the body of the wood, and lay in such a way in relation to

the trunk that the curvature of the D-shaped profile runs in

parallel with the course of the tree rings. For a hard and

tough wood like that of yew, this makes the construction

easier and ensures that the outer fibres would have been

protected.

The quiver was made of caprine skin and was stiffened

with hazel wood (Corylus avellana) (Fig. 5a). The cover

has been torn off and a carrying strap is missing. The 14

arrows were made of the wood of the wayfaring tree

(Viburnum lantana) (Fig. 5b). In relation to Otzi0s size all

the arrow shafts are too long. Only two arrows were fin-

ished and fitted with arrow heads of flint, but the shafts

were broken. Both of them show special features. One is

repaired, the front end being restored with dogwood

(Cornus). The other one possesses a thickening at the front

end, which served as stiffening of the shaft because of its

overlength. All the other arrow shafts were unfinished like

the bow (Oeggl and Schoch 2000).

The dagger handle (Fig. 3c) is made from a piece of ash

(Fraxinus excelsior) that was split tangentially from a tree

trunk. The blade is inserted in parallel with the direction of

the tree rings. Its sheath was knotted from the bark of

linden (Tilia).

One of his most interesting objects was a belted pouch,

which held two blades and a borer made of flint, an awl

made from sheep or goat bone, pieces of the true tinder

fungus (Fomes fomentarius) and a previously unknown

tool for sharpening flints. This sharpening (Fig. 3d) tool

consists of a completely debarked branch of lime (Tilia), in

which a peg of a deer antler was inserted (Egg 1993). On

hide thongs, Otzi carried two pierced pieces of the birch

bracket fungus (Piptoporus betulinus), which contains

styptic compounds (Peintner and Poder 2000).

He also had with him two containers made of birch

(Betula) bark (Fig. 3b). The tubular fragment of one was

found nearby the mummy inside the gully, and the bottom

of a second birch bark vessel was detected in the neigh-

bouring eastward depression of the discovery site. The

tubular fragment had contained charcoal pieces wrapped in

Norway maple (Acer platanoides) leaves. Several wood

species could be identified from the charcoal remains

(Fig. 6), which are interpreted as cold embers: probably

spruce (Picea/Larix-type), pine (Pinus mugo-type), green

alder (Alnus viridis), some Pomoideae which were proba-

bly Juneberry (cf. Amelanchier ovalis), dwarf willow (Salix

reticulata-type) and elm (Ulmus). Spruce is the most

prominent species and characteristic of the forest vegeta-

tion in the area, but in the specimen green alder and elm

also occur indicating that the charcoal pieces were col-

lected from diverse fires at different altitudes.

Finally there was the frame of a backpack (Fig. 3f) just

beside the axe and bow on the rock rib in the southeast of

the gully (Fig. 7). It was constructed from a thick branch of

hazel (Corylus avellana) bent into a U-shape, together with

two coarsely-worked laths of larch (Larix decidua) which

were loose beside it. The bark had been removed from the

hazel spar and the side branches were roughly cut off. The

spar is notched at both ends. These notches probably served

to hold the laths in place. The laths had been split off

tangentially from a massive trunk of larch (L. decidua). A

further larch (L. decidua) lath was freed from the ice during

the excavations in 1992. This latter one was appreciably

shorter in length (16.5 cm) than the other two and was

probably an additional lath that had been tied onto the

backpack.

Fragments of skin, hairs and a large number of strings

from lime bark underlaid the backpack which formed a bag

tied up with the hazel spar (Spindler 1993).

All in all, the majority of wood species found with Otzi

thrive in the montane regions (valley bottoms to 1,800 m),

although some subalpine (1,800–2,500 m) and alpine

Veget Hist Archaeobot (2009) 18:1–11 3

123

(above 2,500 m) species are also represented. Their eco-

logical requirements point to the transition zone between

thermophilous mixed-oak forest communities (Quercetalia

pubescenti-petreae) and the montane spruce forest

(Piceetum montanum). Norwegian maple (A. platanoides),

European yew (T. baccata), ash (Fraxinus sp.), lime (Tilia

sp.) and elm (Ulmus sp.) allow us to infer a humid habitat

with a mineral rich, free-draining soil and a mild winter

Fig. 3 Otzi0s equipment: a the

grass cape made of

Brachypodium pinnatumbundles, b the birch bark vessel,

c the flint dagger with its sheath

of lime (Tilia) bast, d the

sharpening tool made of lime

(Tilia) wood, e Otzi0s left shoe

with the strings made of lime

(Tilia) bast and grass as

insulation material, f the

backpack made of hazel

(Corylus avellana) and larch

(Larix) laths. � South Tyrol

Museum of Archaeology

4 Veget Hist Archaeobot (2009) 18:1–11

123

climate. All that is similar to the present-day conditions in

the woodlands found on the slopes and in gorges in the

lower Schnalstal and Vinschgau in South Tyrol, where it is

assumed he lived. This is confirmed by isotopic tracing.

The Sr–Pb–O isotopes from the enamel of his teeth and his

bones indicate that a probable birthplace was near the

confluence of the Eisack and Rienz rivers east of the Etsch

valley, but that later during his adulthood he migrated to

the lower Vinschgau and Etsch valley (Fig. 1; Muller et al.

2003).

Whereas Otzi collected the species for his wooden

artefacts from the valley bottoms, the grasses from his

shoes so far identified all thrive together in the subalpine

regions indicating that the Iceman collected his insulating

material from these subalpine grass lawns (Acs et al. 2005).

Diet

Remains of domesticated and other edible plants discov-

ered in the archaeological context yield indirect evidence

about the food of the desiccated Neolithic glacier mummy.

So do the several spikelets of einkorn (Triticum mono-

coccum) and rachis segments of a lax-eared variety of

naked six-row barley (Hordeum vulgare var. nudum) found

adhering to the hides and clothes of Otzi (cf. Table 1 in

Heiss and Oeggl 2008). Besides these domesticates one

sloe (Prunus spinosa) was also collected from the ice of the

gully as were two ibex (Capra ibex) bones suggesting that

Otzi also consumed meat. Therefore a specimen of food

residue from the transverse colon was investigated to gain

more information about Otzi0s diet.

The micro and macro fossil remains in his intestinal

tract consist of different types of material, primarily cereal

remains, together with muscle fibres, carbon particles,

pollen, mineral particles, mosses, diatoms and eggs of the

whipworm (Trichuris trichiuria), a human endoparasite

(Fig. 8).

The cereal remains derive mainly from bran belonging

to the Triticum/Secale-type, besides small amounts of

Triticum glume fragments. Taken together with several

spikelets of einkorn (T. monococcum) found in Otzi0sgarments, these suggest that these bran and glume remains

also belong to einkorn (T. monococcum). The size classes

of the bran remains differ. Particles [500 lm make up a

small percentage of the total whereas the particles between

125 and 60 lm add up to about 60% (Fig. 9) indicating that

the cereal was finely ground. Muscle fibres were also

detected. Finally from the macro remains it can be deduced

that Otzi fed on an omnivorous diet consisting of a fari-

naceous dish made of einkorn (T. monococcum), meat and

other vegetables (Oeggl 2000, 2001; Dickson et al. 2000).

These findings are inconsistent with stable isotopic analy-

ses (13C, 15N) on the Iceman0s hair which suggest that Otzi

was a vegetarian (Macko et al. 1999). Again to exclude all

possibility of doubt new ingesta samples have been taken

endoscopically from the body and their micro and macro

remain content has been investigated (Oeggl et al. 2005).

Much more surprising was the composition of the pollen

flora in the food residue (Fig. 10). Contrary to our pre-

dictions arboreal pollen (AP) predominated at 84%, while

non arboreal pollen (NAP) constituted only 16% of the

total pollen. This was amazing, because a dominance of

herb pollen (NAP) was expected due to all the edible

herbaceous species in the diet. However, Cerealia-type,

Caltha-type, Primulaceae and Fabaceae appear in per-

centages indicating intentional consumption. The cereal

pollen belongs to the Triticum-type and possibly derives

from the cereal bran the Iceman had eaten. Associated herb

pollen belonged to synanthropic species commonly grow-

ing in cereal fields, such as Chenopodiaceae, Plantago

major-type, Polygonum persicaria-type, Rumex acetosella

and Urticaceae. Most probably they were also trapped in

the bran during crop processing and were picked up with

the cereal meal.

The AP spectrum from the colon reflects thermophilous

deciduous forest vegetation dominated by Ostrya carpini-

folia (54%) with an admixture of Betula, Corylus avellana

(24%) and a few Picea and Pinus grains. In the lower

Vinschgau and the Schnalstal O. carpinifolia is a dominant

representative in manna ash-hop hornbeam forests (Orno-

Ostryetum), which thrive on the slopes up to an altitude of

1,100 m. However, acid spruce forests (Vaccinio-Piceion)

are the typical forest vegetation in the montane regions

of the inner alpine area. Their pollen—Pinus, Picea and

Vaccinium-type—occurs only in minor quantities. In gen-

eral terms therefore this pollen spectrum would appear to

reflect the transition zone between a warmth demanding

vegetation with hop hornbeam forests (Orno-Ostryetrum)

and the inner alpine spruce forests. Together with the

dendrological and bryophyte analyses (Dickson et al. 1996,

Fig. 4 Species composition of the grasses of the insulation material

from the Iceman0s shoe

Veget Hist Archaeobot (2009) 18:1–11 5

123

2008) these results corroborate a southern domicile for the

Iceman as was demonstrated by a typological comparison

of his equipment with inventory items from contemporary

north-Italian cultures (Spindler 1993). This is despite the

fact that pollen analyses of the Iceman0s hides and skins

suggest that the Iceman lived in the montane regions of the

eastern central or northern Alps. These suggestions dis-

count the idea that the pollen from Otzi0s garments reflects

a long-term signal with a mixed regional pollen spectrum

derived from all the different habitats he traversed during

his lifetime.

However, the pollen from his ingesta revealed very

important clues about his domicile, although the incorpo-

ration of pollen in food residue is complex and may have

been derived from different sources. There are several

ways in which pollen can come to be incorporated into the

intestinal residue: intentionally by consuming plants (eco-

nomic pollen) or unintentionally as a contamination of

food, water or air (Bryant 1974; Sobolik 1988). Diatoms of

16 different species were also recognised in the food res-

idue and were ingested through drinking water. The

dominant species identified are Achnanthes minutissima,

Fig. 5 Otzi0s weapons: a quiver with two arrows, b the 14 arrows, c the copper axe. � South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology

6 Veget Hist Archaeobot (2009) 18:1–11

123

Diatoma Ehrenbergii, Fragillaria arcus, Gomphonema

pumilum, G. olivaceum and Navicula radiosa. All of them

are common and typical of the mountain rivulets within the

investigation area (Rott 2000).

Season of death

The season in which the Iceman died is still a matter of

controversy. There are two contradictory opinions: Spin-

dler (1993) suggested that he died in autumn and became

incorporated in snow, which was later transformed into ice.

His assumption is based on Artemisia pollen, indicative of

autumn, detected in an ice sample from the discovery site

(Bortenschlager et al. 1992), together with the finding of

spikelets of einkorn (T. monococcum) in the Iceman0sgarments and a sloe (Prunus spinosa) picked out from the

ice of the site. Neither of these arguments provides any

unchallenged evidence for this matter. First, the pollen

from the ice is invalid because the ice in the gully had

melted, at least when the body was discovered. Thus the

pollen is not pristinely stratified but mixed, and represents

an integrated pollen signal for the period ice had been

accumulating at the site. As to the edible plants, both

einkorn and sloe can be stored, and their occurrence does

not imply that they had been harvested just before Otzi

climbed the mountains (cf. Oeggl 2000).

The opposite opinion that the Iceman died in spring, is

deduced from the pollen content in his food residue. The

most surprising feature in the pollen spectrum is the pre-

served gametophyte within the pollen grains of Ostrya-

type. By whatever means the Ostrya-type pollen became

incorporated in the body, the excellent preservation of the

pollen shows that it was absorbed within a short time after

being released from the flowers, otherwise the gameto-

phytes would have been decayed by oxidising conditions

within a few days or weeks from emission. Furthermore,

when the flowering season of the other pollen taxa is also

taken into consideration, the season of deposition would

appear to be spring. A comparison of the colon pollen

spectrum with recent airborne pollen data from Schlanders

in the Vinschgau shows that Otzi0s ingesta pollen matches

recent local pollen spectra from April or May (Fig. 11).

Even considering that the local climate at the time of the

Iceman may have been slightly different from today (cf.

Magny and Haas 2004), one would expect no severe shift

in the flowering season of the trees, thus the Iceman died in

early summer at the latest (Oeggl 2000, 2001).

Fig. 6 Charcoal analysis of the cold embers from the birch bark

vessel

Fig. 7 Distribution pattern of

the body and the other findings

in the gully at the Tisenjoch.

Numbers on the bars indicate

the number of arrows and arrow

shaft splinters (made from the

wayfaring tree, Viburnumlantana)

Veget Hist Archaeobot (2009) 18:1–11 7

123

Taphonomy of the site

However, the season of his death has a crucial impact on

the understanding of the genesis of the find assemblage of

the Iceman. Spindler (1993, 1996) argued that the Iceman

died in autumn, and must have been covered with snow

immediately. The body desiccated within the snow cover,

which later turned into ice. It then remained enclosed in

ice until its discovery in 1991. Thus the body was in an

excellent state of preservation with almost no indication

of decay and damage from carrion feeders. Contrary to

this Seidler et al. (1992) had already declared in the early

stages of the investigation of the Iceman that mummifi-

cation had only been possible because the body was

exposed to frost and a dry wind for several weeks before

becoming embedded in the snow. Ambach (1992) cor-

roborated this, since mummification is impossible in snow

because of its physical properties. Based on an estimated

weight of about 50 kg (Spindler 1993), a body can lose

12 kg through evaporation in snow, but in fact the

mummy had lost a mass of almost 37 kg of water

(Egarter-Vigl 2006). Furthermore, studies on the Iceman0sskin by IR spectroscopy and histology have revealed

evidence of alterations in the lipid composition of the skin

and a loss of the outer epidermis, which were caused by

immersion in water for several months (Bereuter et al.

1997). The taphonomic issue regarding the site became

more complicated when indications of displacement of the

find assemblage were observed. During their excavation

Bagolini et al. (1995) recognised many grass remains,

binding material, skin and hide fragments on and in cre-

vices of the rock ridge confining the south-eastern area of

the gully. They were located almost as high as, or slightly

lower than the backpack and axe, but anyway higher than

the mummy. This distribution pattern was explained by a

flotation of these remains during spells when the ice in

the gully was melted, although the excavators suggested

that the bottom ice layer has been unaffected by these

melting phases. A flotation of the find assemblage or parts

of it is also corroborated by the studies of Oeggl and

Schoch (1995, 2000). During their analysis of the wooden

remains recovered from the gully several splinters from

the wayfaring tree (V. lantana) were detected. The pieces

fit with each other and were combined to form a missing

piece of a broken arrow shaft from the quiver. What was

surprising was that the splinters were not detected in the

quiver but on the south-eastern rock ridge of the gully

nearby the backpack and axe (Fig. 7; Oeggl 2003). Now,

15 years later, all the plant material from the gully and its

distribution has been analysed and this has provided

fundamental new evidence concerning this issue (Heiss

and Oeggl 2008), as has the results of a thorough review

of the history of the Iceman0s discovery and his belong-

ings (Rastbichler-Zissernig 2006).

Otzi0s social status

Since his discovery, the questions of who Otzi was and

what was his motivation to climb to such remote areas have

intrigued many scientists. Several hypotheses were

designed to explain this issue, but all of them are unsatis-

factory in some way (Spindler 1993). These hypotheses

suggest that he was either:

1. An outlaw, because of the remote discovery site.

2. A hunter or warrior, which is based primarily on bone

remains of ibex discovered in the gully and his

equipment, in particular his bow and arrows. However

both of these were unfinished and unsuitable for

hunting.

3. A shaman or priest because of the birch bracket fungus

(P. betulinus), his amulet and unfinished bow, the

latter being interpreted as a symbol. However the

characteristic traditional costume, a rhythm-instrument

and talismanic symbols would be expected for this

explanation, but all of these are missing.

Fig. 8 Micro- and macro fossil remains from the Iceman0s intestinal

tract

Fig. 9 Size classes of the bran from the Iceman0s gut content

8 Veget Hist Archaeobot (2009) 18:1–11

123

4. An ore prospector or smelter due to the high copper

and arsenic values in his hair (Gossler et al. 1995;

Brothwell and Grime 2003), but neither pieces of ore

nor a pick-axe or a stone mallet were recovered.

5. A shepherd because of his grass cape and the

palynological evidence of highland grazing in the

Otz valley, which had begun as much as 1,000 years

before the lifetime of the Iceman (Bortenschlager

2000).

Spindler (2005) favoured the last explanation and saw

the Iceman as being involved in transhumance mainly due

to the palynological results (Bortenschlager 2000),

although there is no archaeological evidence for this sug-

gestion. However, isotopic tracing does not only confirm

that he was native to the area to the southeast and south of

where he was found. The Sr–Pb–O isotopes from his teeth

and bones possibly indicate that he was involved in a

seasonal local transhumance to the high altitudes of the

southern Otz valley (Muller et al. 2003), which lends some

additional weight to the ‘‘shepherd explanation’’. Anyway,

the present knowledge of the settlement history of the

Vinschgau (Etsch valley) includes only a few Neolithic

settlements and stray finds for this area. Furthermore,

pollen analyses of the main valleys of the inner alpine

regions, the Inn valley (Walde 1999) and the Etsch valley

Fig. 11 Season of death: comparison of the Iceman0s colon 2 pollen

spectrum (see Fig. 10) with recent airborne pollen data from

Schlanders

Fig. 10 The pollen flora of the Iceman0s ingesta samples. Only major taxa are considered (according to Oeggl et al. 2006)

Veget Hist Archaeobot (2009) 18:1–11 9

123

(Wahlmuller 1990; Kompatscher and Oeggl 2000) reveal

that this central alpine area was settled sporadically during

the Neolithic but that colonisation of the area began around

3,500–3,000 B.C. According to these data population pres-

sure both of humans and of livestock seems to have been

low and the range of grazing ground on the high mountain

areas of the Vinschgau seems to have been sufficient. The

large numbers of caprine dung pellets recovered during the

archaeological excavations of the discovery site possibly

provide new independent information about early pasturing

at these high altitudes. Their macro and micro remain

content reveals the former diet of the animals, and infor-

mation on the locations of the grazing grounds. Thus this

study has the potential to yield new evidence on early

seasonal high mountain transhumance during the Neolithic

(Oeggl et al. 2008).

Conclusion

The extraordinarily good preservation of the Iceman yields

an unparalleled insight into the complete equipment of a

Neolithic man. Archaeobotanical studies on this find

assemblage have provided considerable knowledge about

the ethnobotany and life circumstances of Neolithic man.

Nevertheless, to assess the representativeness of this

unique finding for the alpine Neolithic, it has to be deter-

mined whether the finding is significant for this alpine area,

or if it merely reflects an ephemeral event. The symposium

‘‘Palaeoethnobotany at the Time of the Tyrolean Iceman’’

at the 17th International Botanical Congress in Vienna held

in 2005 addressed this problem and brought together all

recent archaeobotanical knowledge from the circum alpine

areas for the Neolithic period (see other articles in this

volume).

Acknowledgments The author acknowledges the Austrian Science

Foundation for funding of this research. We are grateful to Dr. Edith

Bucher, Pollenwarndienst Sudtirol, for providing recent airborne

pollen monitoring data for Schlanders. Finally we would like to thank

the South Tyrolean Archaeology Museum for making available the

photographs of the Iceman0s equipment (Figs. 3, 5).

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