The Tyrolean Iceman and excavated human remains as sources of information about the past, the present, and the future.
The 5,200-year-old mummy of the so-called "Iceman" found in the Tyrolean Alps in September 1991 has not only provided unique information about the European Stone Age, but has also supported disciplines of glaciology and paleoclimatology, contributed to medical history, age-at-death determination, and plastic surgery. The Iceman is the oldest known case of medical tattooing. Since the body is unique, new noninvasive methods had to be developed to investigate it. Stereolithographic skull models were produced to study the skull. Age determination was partly based on computer tomography. These methods may even be used for present or future medical or forensic practice. Furthermore, a collection of identified skulls from a charnel house in Austria, dating from about 1780 AD to 1990 AD, has been used for testing and developing osteological methods, though the inclusion of the skulls in the charnel house is formally classified a second burial. These skulls have been studied by permission from the local Catholic church. Careful respect for the ancestors is crucial in both these and other cases. In return, access to the remains of ancestors provides information which may shed light upon the past, the present, and even help survival in the future.
Sjøvold
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Stockholm University, Solna, Sweden.
D001317:Austria; D018732:Forensic Anthropology; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D009106:Mummies / Q000266:history*; D010164:Paleopathology