iceman

/uys"man'/, n., pl. icemen.

a man whose business is gathering, storing, selling, or delivering ice.

[1835-45; ICE + MAN¹]

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Body of a man found sealed in a glacier in the Tirolean Ötztal Alps in 1991 and dated to 3300 BC.

It has revealed significant details of everyday life during the Neolithic Period. The Iceman (also called Similaun Man or Ötzi, after the glacier and valley) is tattooed on parts of his body and has trimmed hair; it had previously been thought that tattooing and hair cutting began much later in Europe. He wore neatly stitched deerskin clothing, a woven grass cape, and leather shoes stuffed with grass for insulation. He carried two fungi on leather thongs, probably for medicinal purposes, and a birchbark box containing food supplies. His other equipment included a copper ax, a flint dagger, a yew bow, and a deerskin quiver holding expertly finished arrows. Although it was initially believed that he had died of freezing, X-ray examination in 2001 showed that an arrowhead was lodged in his left shoulder, suggesting that he had likely bled to death after being shot.

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▪ Neolithic human body

also spelled  Ice Man,  also called  Ötzi 

 an ancient mummified human body. It was found by a German tourist, Helmut Simon, on the Similaun Glacier in the Tirolean Ötztal Alps, on the Italian-Austrian border, on September 19, 1991. Radiocarbon-dated to 3300 BC, the body is that of a man aged 25 to 35 who had been about 1.6 metres (5 feet 2 inches) tall and had weighed about 50 kg (110 pounds). Initially it was thought that he fell victim to exposure or exhaustion while crossing the Alps and died of freezing; however, X-ray examination in 2001 showed that an arrowhead was lodged in the Iceman's left shoulder, suggesting that he had likely bled to death after being shot. The small rocky hollow in which he lay down to die was soon covered (and protected) by glacial ice that happened to be melting 5,300 years later when his body was discovered by modern humans. His nickname, Ötzi, stems from the Ötztal Alps, where he was found.

      It was at first believed that the Iceman was free of diseases, but in 2007 researchers discovered that his body had been infested with whipworm and that he had suffered from arthritis; neither of these conditions contributed to his death. He also at one time had broken his nose and several ribs. His few remaining scalp hairs provide the earliest archaeological evidence of haircutting, and short blue lines on his skin (lower spine, left leg, and right ankle) have been variously interpreted as the earliest known tattoos (tattoo) or as scars remaining from a Neolithic therapeutic procedure. The various clothes and accoutrements found with him are truly remarkable, since they formed the gear of a Neolithic traveler. The Iceman's basic piece of clothing was an unlined fur robe stitched together from pieces of ibex, chamois, and deer skin. A woven grass cape and a furry cap provided additional protection from the cold, and he wore shoes made of leather and stuffed with grass. The Iceman was equipped with a small copper-bladed ax and a flint dagger, both with wooden handles; 14 arrows made of viburnum and dogwood, two of which had flint points and feathers; a fur arrow quiver and a bow made of yew; a grass net that may have served as a sack; a leather pouch; and a U-shaped wooden frame that apparently served as a backpack to carry this gear. His scant food supply consisted of a sloeberry, mushrooms, and a few gnawed ibex bones.

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