This correlation was close enough to be statistically significant — suggesting that the tattoos were not random but were intentionally placed at locations associated with pain or pathology.

The interpretation that has gained the most traction among researchers is that the tattoos may represent a form of therapeutic practice — something analogous to acupuncture, in which specific points on the body were marked and perhaps stimulated (by tattooing itself, which is a form of controlled skin trauma, or by subsequent treatment at the tattooed locations) to address pain and illness.

Some of the tattooed locations correspond to acupuncture points used in traditional East Asian medicine for the treatment of conditions similar to those Ötzi apparently suffered from.

This is not a claim that Ötzi’s culture and traditional Chinese medicine shared a common origin or were in contact.