In 1991, two hikers found a body in the ice of the Alps. At first, people thought he died recently. But he lived about 5,300 years ago.

Scientists call him the Iceman, or Ötzi. They studied his DNA and learned a lot. He had darker skin than most Europeans today, and he could not drink milk easily. Scientists also found an arrowhead in his left shoulder.

In September 1991, hikers in the Alps near the border between Italy and Austria found a body coming out of the ice. It turned out to be a man who lived about 5,300 years ago, now known as the Iceman. Because the ice preserved his body so well, scientists have been able to learn surprising details. Genetic studies suggest that he had darker skin than most modern Europeans, was likely losing his hair, and could not digest milk sugar well.

Researchers even rebuilt the genome of a stomach bacterium from his gut, which helped show how humans moved in the past. About ten years after the discovery, X-rays revealed an arrowhead in his left shoulder, now seen as the probable cause of death.

When hikers spotted a body emerging from an Alpine glacier in 1991, they assumed it was a recent accident victim. In fact, the Iceman had lived about 5,300 years ago, and because he was so well preserved, he has become one of the most closely studied ancient individuals. A 2012 genome reported that he had blood type O and was lactose intolerant.

A cleaner, higher-coverage genome published in 2023 found that an unusually large share of his ancestry came from early farmers originating in Anatolia, which points to a fairly isolated Alpine population. He also carried variants associated with darker skin and male-pattern baldness, although genes only give the odds of how a person looked. In 2016, researchers recovered the genome of Helicobacter pylori from his stomach contents.

The strain was closest to Asian lineages, and it suggested that African strains reached Europe later than once believed. Imaging located an arrowhead in his left shoulder, and recent work suggests that he may have lived for several hours after being hit. Some early findings have not held up. Reanalysis of the 2012 data detected a trace of steppe ancestry. The 2023 genome found none, most likely because the earlier data had been contaminated with modern DNA.