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Ötzi the iceman was dark-skinned and balding, suggests genome analysis

The genome of Ötzi, the 5300-year-old mummified man found in the Alps, was first published in 2012, but a more accurate readout has changed the story of where his ancestors came from

By Michael Marshall

16 August 2023

The mummified body of Ötzi, who is thought to have lived between 3350 and 3120 BC

© South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology/Eurac/Marco Samadelli-Gregor Staschitz

A new genetic analysis has changed our understanding of Ötzi, the mummified “Iceman” who lived 5300 years ago and was found in a glacier in the Alps.

The findings reveal that almost all of Ötzi’s DNA was inherited from early farmers, who moved into Europe a few thousand years before he was born.

The genome also indicates that he had darker skin than any people with predominantly European ancestry today, and may well have…

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