Ötzi’s carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were consistent with a diet heavy in meat and plant foods, with a significant contribution of cereals — consistent with the archaeological picture of a Copper Age Alpine farming community that supplemented agriculture with hunting.

The specific mix of proteins and carbohydrates in his diet was somewhat unusual compared to other contemporaneous Alpine populations analyzed through isotopes — suggesting either individual dietary preferences or specific aspects of the particular community he came from.

The strontium isotope analysis — which can be used to trace where an individual spent different periods of their life, because different geological areas have different strontium ratios that are incorporated into teeth and bones during development — suggested that Ötzi had grown up in a valley area that has been provisionally identified as near the Eisack or Adige valleys of South Tyrol.

His adult strontium values were somewhat different from his childhood values, suggesting he moved around during his life — consistent with the seasonal transhumance pattern of moving livestock between valley and mountain that characterized Alpine agricultural communities.