“Ice patches” — areas of permanent snow and ice that are not true glaciers but that can preserve organic material from human activities conducted nearby — have been particularly productive.

In Scandinavia, the Alps, and other mountain regions, retreating ice patches have yielded textiles, tools, arrows, clothing, and other Copper Age and later prehistoric material preserved by cold.

Some of these “ice finds” represent material culture from periods similar to Ötzi’s.

The question of whether more human bodies like Ötzi await discovery in retreating glaciers and permafrost is one that researchers take seriously.

The specific conditions that preserved Ötzi — the protected hollow, the specific ice regime, the particular pattern of burial — may not be commonly replicated.