London, March 1 (IANS) A 5,300-year-old “iceman” known as Otzi, from Austria, had brown eyes. He was also the world’s first-known case of Lyme disease, the Daily Mail reported.
Otzi, who was 46 at the time of his death and measured five feet two inches, had relatives in Sardinia, the second-largest island in the Mediterranean after Sicily.
Otzi was predisposed to heart disease, according to new DNA analysis.
The iceman has been crucial to our understanding of how prehistoric people lived, what they wore and even what they ate.
The study focused on the DNA in the nuclei of Otzi’s cells, and could yield further insights into the famous ice mummy’s life.
The ancient natural mummy was believed to have died 5,300 years ago when he was hit by an arrow during a hunting trip, or possibly in an accident.
The new analysis found genetic material from the Lyme disease parasite, spread by ticks, while investigating Otzi’s own DNA.
Albert Zink of the University of Bozen said the analysis showed Otzi has relatives. Earlier analysis of his mitochondrial DNA, passed down through the maternal line, found no living relatives.
“His ancestors came from Europe, originally from the East, and spread over most or part of Europe,” says Zink.
“His original population was somehow replaced by other populations, but they remained quite stable in remote areas like Sardinia and Corsica,” the Mail Thursday quoted Zink as saying.
Otzi was unearthed in September 1991 by a couple of German tourists trekking through the Oetz Valley, Austria, after which he was named.
Archaeologists believe Otzi, who was carrying a bow, a quiver of arrows and a copper axe, may have been a hunter or warrior killed in a skirmish with a rival tribe.
