The list of institutions that have conducted research on his remains, his belongings, or the site of his discovery reads like a directory of European archaeological and biomedical research.

More than 600 scientific publications have been produced from research connected to the Iceman — on topics ranging from his blood type to his gut microbiome to the species of tree that his birch-bark containers were made from.

Albert Zink, the scientific director of the Eurac Research Institute for Mummy Studies and co-senior author of the 2023 genome paper, expressed a view shared by many researchers who have worked with the mummy: “I’m often asked if, after 33 years of iceman research, shouldn’t everything be known?

That’s not the case.