While Ötzi himself is an Alpine figure, understanding his significance requires situating him in the broader context of the Copper Age world that extended far beyond the mountains.

The fourth millennium BCE — the period in which Ötzi lived — was one of extraordinary diversity and dynamism in prehistoric Europe and the Near East.

The world was, in some ways, already recognizably modern in its complexity: there were cities, or something approaching them, in Mesopotamia and in the Aegean.

There was long-distance trade connecting communities separated by hundreds or thousands of miles.

There were social hierarchies in which some individuals and families had significantly more power, wealth, and prestige than others.