Ötzi the Iceman and the Copper Age World

Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed the video please hit "like" as it makes a big difference. Enter at www.omaze.com/dandavis for your chance to win a trip of a lifetime on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, and support a great cause, International Medical Corps.

he was at 46 scalling a mountain in 3k bc, I think that's very impressive

5:52 There's a practical reason for the ends of his cape being unwoven. Like any fringed garment, the loose ends help to shed water by breaking up the surface tension.

I desperately want to sit at a campfire and have a conversation with him. He wasn't an animal, he was a man who probably had kids or a woman missing him. RIP Otzi.

If Ötzi was murdered, then it seems to me, people that killed him really seriously wanted him dead. All that ascending, decending indicates a pursuit, and it takes dedication, great will and hatred to chase someone like that in such harsh mountanous environment. Was it a blood feud? Revenge? Eye for an eye? If only dead man could speak.

The Copper Age is another one of those things we didn't learn about in school and didn't read about in popular science magazines, and yet it was such an important, formative period at least for Europe. Glad you've stepped up to the task of educating people!

I’ve a lot of media about this guy but this is the most detailed documentary I’ve ever seen about him. Several facts and alternative reconstructions I hadn’t seen before

Otzi's friend: "We're lost" Otzi: "No we're not." 3months later...... Otzi: "We're lost" friend aims bow at Otzi

I think it's poetic that, in a sense, his journey continued long after his death. Ultimately he journeyed into a future that could learn much about his life and times from his remains. In a macabre way, I think that's sort of beautiful.

Otzi is a gift to us through the ages. Let's also remember the man, someone's son, brother, probably father. When he didn't come back, he was missed, a family probably went hungry.🌷

How has nobody commented on the iceman recreations facial expressions? This was a fascinating watch. And literally had me in stitches when you kept showing the altered faces and the one of the man giving a bewildered insane stare was solid gold 😂😂 education and comedy all in one

Ötzi is probably the most fascinating arheological discovery in our time. We are so fortunate that a time capsule like his remains appeared when science was able to make so much out of it. Regarding his axe remaining by the corpse, it may be because he and his killer were part of the same community. The killer removed his own arrow, but left Ötzi's valuable posessions. If the killer had stolen anything, people in their community could recognize the items as belonging to Ötzi, and if the body was found, someone may recognize the arrow. Sometimes the simplest explaination is the right one. Anytime archeologists use the methaphysical argument it sounds like they are out of ideas, although metsphysics no doubt played a large role in prehistoric times.

Years ago I visited Ötzi in his museum and his gras-cape really cought my eye (~ 6:00), because in Japan I bought a book with early photographs of japanese people and one of them portaited a man wearing a similar cape. It seems that around the world people came to the same solutions when they solved problems...a bit like convergence.

Perhaps Otzi was murdered by a member of his own tribe over some local dispute. His valuable axe was left behind on the mountain because possessing it would have identified the killer or started a blood feud.

WRT him looking "older", that's from a life lived outdoors. Go to any rural area especially a fishing community and try to guess the men's ages. UV light ages you, and you get a double dose when you're in a boat on the water. We work indoors, we have moisturizers and exfoliants and god knows what. And we worship "a youthful look". We look young for our age these days. He just worked outdoors a lot, high up in the mountains. Lots of UV exposure.

This is by far the best and most thorough treatment of Outzi. Thanks much, Dan!

I love the comment of "in alternating dark and light patterns, presumably because it looked fashionable", it's so important to remember these were real people with thoughts and opinions and critical thinking, not just apes with tools

I come from that region, life must have been hard. Winter is cold and long, summers are short. Even with modern clothing I can't imagine living outside in winter. His facial features resembles the faces of the mountain farmers of my valley, formed by hard work, physically very strong people, far stronger than their looks would suggest.

i just wanna sit down and have a beer with ötzi. talk to him about his life & times. he is hands down one of my favorite “ancient” humans.

The stories this guy could tell. However his body and equipment are a priceless window into the past. R.I.P. Otzi and thank you for the history lessons.