He had been found sleeping in the Alps for years. Researchers found his frozen body beneath the pile of snow. The extent of the curse was spread after they removed that thick cover of ice. Ötzi, the Iceman, is the natural mummy of a man who lived between BC 3350 and BC 3105. The mummy was discovered on September 19, 1991 in the Ötztal Alps near the Austria-Italy border. He is Europe’s oldest known natural human mummy, offering an unprecedented view of Chalcolithic (Copper Age) Europeans.

Researchers are of the opinion that the mummy of Ötzi remained intact for 5,300 long years as it was covered by ice. The mummy is currently preserved in a museum in Italy. One can see Ötzi’s remains and his personal belongings at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy. Meanwhile, the reconstruction of Ötzi’s mummy is kept at the Prehistory Museum of Quinson, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France.

A number of rumours, mysteries and horror stories are associated with this mummy. It is said that many lives have been lost because of the curse of this Iceman. Since its discovery, several people involved in research or other works related to Ötzi’s mummy have perished unexpectedly. Hence, people have started believing in the curse of the Iceman. Ötzi left this world 5,300 years ago. He used to live in Velturno village near the present village of Feldthurns, north of Bolzano, Italy. His death at the age of 45 was not natural either, as X-rays and a CT scan revealed in 2001 that Ötzi had an arrowhead lodged in his left shoulder when he died and a matching small tear on his coat. The discovery of the arrowhead prompted researchers to theorise that the Iceman had died of blood loss from the wound that would probably have been fatal even if modern medical techniques had been available.

After the discovery of Ötzi’s body, researchers started working on his mummy to reveal the lifestyle of the Italians 5,000 years ago. However, several unusual incidents happened during the research work. Important people associated with research died unexpectedly one after another. Rainer Henn, the head of the forensic team, was the first person to die in a car crash on his way to give a talk about Ötzi. He reportedly touched the body of the Iceman with his bare hands.

German tourist Helmut Simon discovered the mummy of Ötzi. Simon died from a fall in 2004 while hiking near the spot where he had discovered the Iceman. Simon’s body was found exactly where Ötzi’s body was discovered after a gap of 13 years. His death shocked everyone, and many retreated from the research work after Simon’s demise. Incidentally, Simon, too, touched the body of Iceman with his bare hands.

Dieter Warnecke (45), who headed the rescue team looking for Simon’s frozen body, also passed away unexpectedly. He died of a heart attack just hours after Simon’s funeral. Mountaineer Kurt Frits was with Simon when Ötzi’s body was recovered. His death was not natural either, as he died in an avalanche. A journalist is also in the list of mysterious deaths related to Ötzi. Austrian journalist Rainer Hoelzl, who exclusively covered the removal of the mummy as part of a one-hour documentary, developed a mystery illness a few months after the programme was shown and died. The other victims include 63-year-old Dr Tom Loy who died prior to finishing a book on Ötzi, Innsbruck Professor Friedrich Tiefenbrunner who died during open-heart surgery and was part of Spindler’s team; and Tom Loy, who had analysed DNA found on Ötzi, died in unclear circumstances as well.

Many believe that as Ötzi had been sleeping for thousands of years wrapped in a sheet of ice, and it was a mistake to wake him up. According to them, so many lives have been lost prematurely due to Ötzi’s curse. Interestingly, Archaeologist Konrad Spindler, who died in 2005 of a pre-existing chronic condition, rejected the idea of the curse. “I think it’s a load of rubbish. It is all media hype. The next thing you will be saying I will be next,” he stressed before his death.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das