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EFE / Madrid
The mummy of Otzi, the Iceman of over 5,300 years, was the subject of all kinds of studies and the last one was focused on his stomach, to determine that his last food reveals a very high fat diet, supplemented with animal meat such as goat and cereals.
Otzi, which was discovered in the Italian Alps in 1991 by German tourists, is the oldest mummy kept in the ice.
The researchers conducted, in a study published in Current Biology, the first in-depth badysis of the content of Iceman's stomach, which offers an "exceptional view" of the eating habits of our ancestors.
The study provides important information on the eating habits of Europeans 5000 years ago, at the age of copper, as well as clues as to how they prepared food.
succeeded in restoring the last meal of the Iceman, who had a remarkably high proportion of fats in his diet, supplemented with animal meat such as ibex, a goat type, and red deer, a cereal called spelled and traces of poison fern
This is the result of the badysis of Otzi's stomach, said Frand Maixner, of the Euryc Mummies Research Institute in the Italian city of Bolzano
The experts had not been able to carry out, until now, this badysis because, at first, they had been unable to find the l & # 39; Iceman's stomach, since during the natural process of mummification, he had gone back up.
In 2009, they were able to establish the location of this organ during a review. computed tomodensitograms and then the project was launched to badyze its contents.
"The stomach material was, in comparison In addition, it contained large amounts of unique biomolecules, for example lipids," which opened up new methodological possibilities to answer our questions about the diet of the patient. small intestine, which was previously badyzed and extraordinarily well preserved. "
Otzi, explains Maixner
Researchers combined clbadical microscopy with modern molecular approaches to determine the exact composition of the diet of Iceman before his death.
The badysis revealed that the main source of fat was the fatty tissue of ibex, in fact about half of the contents of the stomach came from fat.
The experts did not expect to find such a fat diet, however, they consider that "it makes sense" if we take into account the alpine environment "An environment Such cold and elevated exposure poses a special challenge to human physiology that requires optimal nutrient intake to prevent rapid starvation and energy loss, says Albert Zink, also of Eurac.
"The Iceman seemed to know perfectly well," he says, "this fat is an excellent source of energy."
The badysis indicates that wild animal meat has consumed fresh meat or "may be" dry, while the presence of toxic fern particles "is more difficult to explain".
Therefore, they consider Otzi to be suffering from intestinal problems related to parasites that had already been found in his intestine, although fern leaves could also have been used to pack food and toxic spores involuntarily ingested.
In addition, the badysis revealed remains of the intestinal bacterial community present in the intestinal contents of the mummy.
The researchers are now considering further badysis to reconstruct the ancient microbiota of Otzi and other mummified human remains.
Otzi was about 46 years old and measured 160 centimeters when he died violently: he had a deep cut in his hand, the result of a first attack, then an arrow wound, and the tip was been found under the right armpit.
When he was found, the Iceman wore a goatskin breeches and hat and beside him was a copper ax and a quiver full of arrows.
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