Ötzi the Iceman

Who hasn't been fascinated by mummies?

Well, I caught a documentary on TV all about a Copper Age mummy discovered in the Alps between Austria and Italy.

I remember watching it and thinking, "Who are these people, hacking away at a body in the ice?" I mean, don't they watch any crime stuff on TV?

Anyway, I watched it and was truly amazed at the application of science to the investigation of the body in the ice.

As well as determining the who and the why, there was also the where? Where exactly was this mummy found. In the Alps I hear you call. Yes but where? - it's not as if there are border police up there with a customs post.

In the end, although it was thought he was lying in Austria, he was actually in the South Tirol and that is where he is now. Just do not go saying that is Italy. The body and his belongings are displayed in the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bozen, northern Italy (Southern Tyrol).

The museum is well worth a visit. I did it on a day out from my base in the Tirol, Austria. A short drive south of Innsbruck, over the Brenner Pass into the South Tirol. There is an official website : http://www.iceman.it/