Scientists Reveal Otzi The Iceman’s 5,300 Year Old Clothing Secrets

A new study has found that the 5,300-year-old, Otzi the Iceman, whose mummy was discovered in the Tyrolean Alps in Austria back in 1991, wore clothes made of at least five different animal's skin when he died. Scientists have been continuously studying Otzi's mummy to find out everything about his last meal, how he died and who are among his living relatives.

Mystery of 'Iceman' Ötzi's 5,300 year wardrobe is solved—he wore the first sheepskin coat! https://t.co/4M4TMQZ8wl pic.twitter.com/WvZfaOidHU

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) August 18, 2016

According to the study conducted by a team of Irish and international scientists, Otzi the Iceman wore leggings made from goat leather, a shoelace of cow leather, a sheep leather loincloth, a quiver made of roe deer, a fur hat, with straps, made from brown bear and a coat of stitched together patches of both sheep and goat skin. To reach to the conclusion, the research team, led by Niall O'Sullivan at the European Academy of Bozano, Italy, collected genetic data from Ötzi's outfit. The researchers used ultra-modern sequencing techniques that amplify certain target DNA strands to analyze the species associated with each piece of clothing. They analyzed mitochondrial DNA, a type of genetic material, from nine pieces from six of Otzi's garments, reported The Guardian.

Sullivan said they found most of the clothes worn by Otzi were made of cattle, sheep, and goat skin. The study findings suggest Ötzi was not simply involved in growing crops and raising animals as previously thought, but, he was involved in hunting and trapping of wild animals.

He added that the research findings suggest that Copper Age people were very careful while choosing for materials to make their clothes. In fact, they not only used skin of domesticated animals for their clothing but also of different wild animals like brown bear and roe deer. "We analyzed nine samples and for each one, we were able to reconstruct either a whole mitogenome or a partial mitogenome," said Sullivan, reported BBC. "We were very happy with that." The research findings have been published in Scientific Reports.