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8 Comments

1. 1. Ikpex 01:36 PM 11/9/12

   Could Ötzi's Axe be used as a plough?
   

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2. 2. MadScientist72 02:14 PM 11/9/12

   "While the traces of these ancient migrations are largely lost in most of Europe, Sardinian islanders remained more isolated and therefore retain larger genetic traces of those first Neolithic farmers, Sikora said."
   
   Were the "larger genetic traces" a product of their isolation or a later infusion of Middle eastern blood during the Muslim raids of the Middle Ages?

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3. 3. jtdwyer 02:16 PM 11/9/12

   In evaluating the "theory that farmers, and not just the technology of farming, spread during prehistoric times from the Middle East all the way to Finland", it'd be very interesting to understand how many people would have had to move the entire distance over what period of time.
   
   As for the objections to Otzi being a "tourist":
   "That would have required Ötzi's family to travel hundreds of miles, an unlikely prospect"
   "Five thousand years ago, it's not really expected that our populations were so mobile..."
   
   Couldn't Otzi's family taken weeks or even years to travel those hundreds of miles?

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4. 4. littleredtop 02:49 PM 11/9/12

   I'm interested in learning who killed Ötzi and why. Based on current information it would appear that Ötzi most likely committed an offense against another individual or individuals and was brought to quick justice. Perhaps Ötzi wasn't a farmer, tourist or someone who merely chose to relocate to an unknown location. Perhaps Ötzi was an ancient criminal. More than ancestry can be determined by genetics and I believe the answers to my questions are within our grasp.

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5. 5. M Tucker 03:30 PM 11/9/12

   Why it’s Chris Kristofferson! Well, we already knew he was a well-preserved Neolithic caveman.

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6. 6. MadScientist72 in reply to littleredtop 04:05 PM 11/9/12

   Not likely. I've seen in other stories that Otzi's killer removed the shaft of arrow that killed him (presumably beacuse the fletchings, etc. would have been identifiable), but left a very rare and valuable copper axe that Otzi had been carrying. This suggests that Otzi was known and respected in the area. If Otzi was a criminal, his killer would have wanted to take proof to show everyone that he was dead; instead, s/he made a clear effort to make sure no one could connect him/her to the killing.

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7. 7. ssm1959 09:40 PM 11/14/12

   The authors continue to fail to appreciate the mobility of early humans. Several hundred miles would be quite easy in the scheme of things. What should cause us to take pause is not the distances but the reasons they may have had to undertake such a journey. The most basic motivation for the migration of early humans is that they were either pushed by others or the ones doing the pushing. If the Sardinian origin holds true it may be this island was overpopulated for the technology of the time. The resulting frictions pushed some to the mainland where contact with other groups could have fostered more conflict. This basic point also helps explain the violent nature of Otzi's demise.

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8. 8. Steven 10:51 PM 11/14/12

   Probably the Sardinia islanders and Otzi, the Iceman had a common origin, coming from the middle east. He didn't appear to be your typical farmer, carrying bow and arrows, and a copper axe which probably would have been equivalent to a fortune at the time, although the bow shaft and most of the arrows were unfinished, so perhaps he was a fletcher or bow and arrow craftsman.
   Probably regions were populated over generations rather than a single move, perhaps hunters seeing inviting areas or regions which appeared to have a lot of game, and such regions usually would be good places to farm as well, with underlying fertility of the soil and favorable climate.
   I don't have any problem with the Iceman being related to the Sardinia islanders.

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