Sud Tyrol Roll Day 2 (9)

 Day 2 (9): Innsbruck, Austria to Bolzano, Italy

Well, 1st class is certainly more civilized than 2nd class on the trains and a lot quieter. But we survived. The trip was about 2 1/2 hr. and when we got to Bolzano, the weather had become spectacular.

Our hotel, Hotel Greif, was about a 10 minute walk from the train station.

The hotel was on the main square, Waltherplaz (or Piazza Walther). 

We had quick lunch at one of the many restaurants on the square

and then went off to explore the town.  There was a nice open air market that had food, fruits and vegetables, and flowers.

One of Suzanne's friends told her about the South Tyrol Archeological Museum.  We were a bit skeptical, but it turned out to be amazing.

The building itself has a good bit of history. It was originally built in 1912–1913 as a branch of the Austro-Hungarian Bank. After World War I, when South Tyrol became part of Italy, it became a branch of the Banca d’Italia. The Province of Bolzano later bought it, reconstruction began in 1996, and the museum opened on 28 March 1998. It houses Ötzi the Iceman, the naturally preserved Copper Age mummy found in the Alps in 1991.

Ötzi was a man who lived over 5,300 years ago, during the Copper Age, a late Neolithic period when stone tools were still common but copper technology was emerging. He owned a valuable copper axe, which was a big deal at the time.

Ötzi was found by German hikers Erika and Helmut Simon on 19 September 1991 near Tisenjoch in the Schnalstal  area, at about 3,210 m above sea level. At first, people thought he was a modern mountaineering victim, not someone from the Copper Age.  Ötzi’s preservation is due to a rare chain of conditions: rapid cold, drying, and protection from glacier movement rather than simple freezing.  Ötzi was so well preserved because he got the archaeological equivalent of hitting every jackpot at once: cold, ice, dehydration, protection from animals, and a lucky landscape trap.

The basic process was natural glacier mummification. After Ötzi died high in the Alps, his body lay in snow and ice for a very long time. That cold environment slowed bacterial decay, while the ice-and-snow conditions caused the body to dehydrate, meaning it lost much of its body fluid. The South Tyrol Museum describes him as a “wet mummy” naturally mummified in glacier ice, preserved almost entirely rather than intentionally treated like an Egyptian mummy.

The ice also acted like a protective cover. It kept scavenging animals away, reduced exposure to oxygen and sunlight, and helped shield his body, clothing, and equipment from ordinary weathering. That is why not only the body survived, but also fragile things like leather clothing, grass, bark containers, arrows, and other gear. The museum calls Ötzi a Copper Age glacier mummy preserved through “highly improbable coincidences".

The discovery site was very close to the Austria–Italy border. A survey later concluded that Ötzi had been found 92.56 m inside South Tyrol, Italy, which is why he ultimately belongs to the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano rather than to Austria.

Ötzi was extremely well equipped for the mountains. His clothing was made from hide, leather, and braided grass, stitched with animal sinews, grass fibers, and tree bast. His outfit included a hide coat, leggings, loincloth, belt, shoes, and a bearskin cap. The shoes are especially fascinating: layered, insulated with dry grass, and practical enough that modern reproductions can be used for long walks, though they do not handle moisture especially well.

For years, his death was mysterious. Then in 2001, an X-ray revealed a flint arrowhead in his left shoulder. According to the museum, the arrow severed the subclavian artery, meaning he probably bled to death within minutes. He also had a severe head injury, and evidence suggests he had been in hand-to-hand combat shortly before death, including a deep cut on his right hand. It is now believed he was murdered.  This is the ultimate cold-case file.

A recreation of cold weather Copper Age gear was available for trying on.  Jeri and Molly modeled this ancient garment for us.  Very stylish!

After our museum excursion, we met up with Rick and Patti for dinner. They had been riding for a week in Spain so they are all primed for tomorrow.