A great narrative has been woven around the mysterious death of Otzi, a man found in the upper reaches of the Swiss Alps, frozen solid in the ice. It tells of a man that had been chased for miles, perhaps tens of miles, only to fall prey to an arrow in the snow and left for dead. The story is made more interesting by the fact that Otzi is 5,300 years old, and has been incredibly well-preserved within the mummifying ice of the Alps. However, Otzi’s story may be unraveling as scientists uncover new information about the contents of his stomach, and the moments before his death.

Previously the position of Otzi’s body, and the lethal arrow wounds he seemed to have suffer from behind, lead researchers to believe that there had been a significant chase before Otzi was finally overtaken in the highest reaches of the Alps. However, scientists have recently discovered that what they previously thought was his stomach was actually his colon. This may sound like a silly mistake, but because of the mummification Otzi’s internal organs are badly damaged and his stomach has actually receded up into his chest cavity. There they found that Otzi actually had a full stomach when he died.

Otzi had been dining on Ibex meat (pretty good fare for an ancient human) only 30 to 60 minutes before he died. This indicates that Otzi, if he had been chased by his murderers, was not chased for very long. In addition, and this may be a clue to whether Otzi was a fairly high-ranking member of his tribe or not, he seems to have dined this way fairly often. He was discovered with three gall stones, a symptom of regularly eating high levels of animal fat, which indicates that he had some status.

Forensic biology and genetics has allowed scientists to come to some pretty astounding conclusions about our early human ancestors based on what little remains have been recovered around the world. Ancient Mexican burial grounds, Neanderthal and early Cro-Magnon campsites and villages from France to China, and other mummified remains from Siberia to Canada all point to the greater pictures of human migration and society. However, too often the human side of the early individual has been lost to time.

However, the new evidence around Otzi’s murder has just served to increase his mystique. Could Otzi’s murder have been a coup by his tribe, or perhaps an assassination by a rival clan? Perhaps Otzi was a successful hunter and, in a hard winter, was murdered by others for his kill. If nothing else, it has the makings of a fantastic historical fiction novel.