But a detailed survey of the discovery site’s coordinates revealed that it was approximately 92 meters inside Italian territory — just barely, but definitively, in South Tyrol (Alto Adige), the predominantly German-speaking province of northern Italy.

Italy therefore had legal jurisdiction over the mummy.

After initial uncertainty and some diplomatic negotiation, Ötzi was transferred to Italian custody and eventually to the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, where he has resided since the museum opened specifically to house him in 1998.

The jurisdictional question had implications for research access and for the management of the mummy’s scientific study.

Eurac Research, a research center in Bolzano, became the primary scientific institution managing access to the mummy and coordinating research programs.