He had chronic pain from his arthritic joints and from the Lyme disease he was fighting.

He had dental abscesses that caused chronic pain.

He was carrying a sophisticated copper axe and a full survival kit.

He had recently eaten a good meal.

And someone shot him in the back.

What The Genetics Cannot Say

The revised picture of Ötzi’s ancestry and appearance that the 2023 genome analysis provides is striking — but it is important to understand what the genetics can and cannot tell us about this single ancient individual.

The genome can tell us about Ötzi’s biological ancestry: the population groups from which his ancestors descended, and therefore the statistical probabilities of certain physical traits.