World’s Oldest Blood Cells Preserved in Ötzi the Iceman

Health and Medicine





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Atomic force microscope images of Ötzi’s red blood cells / M. Janko et al., Royal Society Interface 2012

Ötzi the Iceman is a 5,300-year-old glacier mummy discovered back in 1991 in the Ötztal Alps near the Italian-Austrian border. After exhaustive examination, researchers revealed that the exceptionally well preserved corpse belonged to a 45-year-old male who likely died of an arrow to the left shoulder.