The investigation of that story has been one of the most compelling aspects of the Ötzi research program.

Multiple teams of forensic specialists have applied the tools of modern crime scene investigation to the cold case — analyzing blood spatter patterns, examining the angle and trajectory of the arrow, assessing the healing of the hand wounds to estimate their age relative to the final injury.

The result is one of the most detailed pictures of prehistoric violence that exists — a picture that is partial, uncertain, and necessarily speculative in its narrative details, but grounded in physical evidence of a specificity that no other prehistoric case can match.

The Question Of Social Status