Skip to content
History–Tours
3300BCc. 3300 BC (found 1991) · Tisenjoch, Ötztal Alps

Ötzi the Iceman

A stone obelisk near the Iceman find site on the Tisenjoch, with the snowy Similaun behind
Photo: Tigerente. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A man died high on the Tisenjoch pass in the Ötztal Alps around 3300 BC, with an arrowhead lodged in his shoulder. Ice preserved his body, clothes, copper axe, bow and fire-making kit until two hikers found him in September 1991. Studied ever since, he gives the most detailed picture of a single Copper Age life in Europe.

Sites

  1. Site 1: South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, BolzanoÖtzi's body in a cold cell seen through a small window, with his clothes and tools.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: Tisenjoch find siteA stone pyramid on the pass marks the spot, reached on a high mountain hike.Map ↗

Guides who take you there

History-only · order never for sale
We haven't found an independent history guide for this yet. Guide here? Tell us about your tours.

Also in Trento and Bolzano

More from the Prehistory

Read more: reference. Summary written by History-Tours.com.