Listen if the study of ancient humans doesn’t make you at least a little bit emotional idk what to say.

I started crying today at the museum because they had reconstructed the shoes of Otzi the iceman.

Either he or someone he knew who cared about him made these shoes out of grass and bear skin and twine and he was wearing them when he died over five thousand years ago.

And a Czech researcher and his students did reconstructions of these shoes and wore them to the same place where he died to test them out and they were like yep! These shoes are really cozy and comfy and didn’t give us blisters while hiking!

Is that not just the coolest shit ever????

How to make an Otzi the Iceman Flint Dagger

from Shawn Woods

ID: a Facebook post by Em Jay:

“Do any of you remember when I was posting about the recent scientific revelation that Cheddar Man was actually very dark-skinned and how pale skin is soooo much of a newer phenomenon (according to studies, pale skin began appearing in the human genome roughly 4,000 years ago as opposed to the previous assumption of 40,000 years ago) than originally surmised? A new genome sequencing study adds the famous 'Otzi the Iceman' to the list of incorrectly reconstructed (referring to the long-haired, pale-skinned rendering of him found in the Italian museum next to his real remains) ancient humans, as it has been revealed he was dark skinned and balding! The initial discovery of Otzi the Iceman in 1991 (on the Italian side of the Italian/Austrian border) was of enormous import for the scientific community for several reasons; Otzi is the oldest 'wet mummy' yet found and the clothes and equipment he was unearthed with are incomprehensibly unique as no other organic material from the Copper Age has survived. He also became popular for his 61 tattoos, which are the oldest preserved tattoos known to date. I absolutely love studies/revelations like this because (borrowing a lovely sentiment from co-author of the study Johannes Krause) they truly reflect our own biases in assuming what a person from that time looked like, and to use my own words, challenges many of us to re- examine the appearance of our ancient human ancestors in general. "The Iceman's new genome also reveals he had male-pattern baldness and much darker skin than artistic representations suggest. Genes conferring light skin tones didn't become prevalent until 4,000 to 3,000 years ago when early farmers started eating plant-based diets and didn't get as much vitamin D from fish and meat as hunter-gathers did, Krause says.

“As Ötzi and other ancient people's DNA illustrate, the skin color genetic changes took thousands of years to become commonplace in Europe. 'People that lived in Europe between 40,000 years ago and 8,000 years ago were as dark as people in Africa, which makes a lot of sense because [Africa is] where humans came from," he says. "We have always imagined that [Europeans] became light-skinned much faster. But now it seems that this happened actually quite late in human history!" (excerpt in quotations from Science News article by Tina Hesman Seay) Below are photos of Otzi, the first taken in 1991 shortly after he was discovered by 2 hikers, his naturally mummified body after he was carefully unearthed from the ice and his incorrect/false rendering with pale skin of 2011, and I hope to return to add a correct/more accurate rendering of him if/when a new one is made!”

Photos show 1) a pair of light-skinned, brown-haired hikers with brown beards, dressed in very 1980s clothing, with the exposed body of Otzi in situ in the ice where they found his body; 2) two photographs of Otzi’s preserved body from the top and back, 3) a close-up photo of Otzi’s preserved hand 4) an inaccurate reconstruction of Otzi in life, showing him as a light-skinned white man.

15 Stars by Ötzi from the album Storm

Otzi the Iceman is a famous natural mummy first discovered in 1991. A new theory suggests he was a human sacrifice, challenging a decades old theory that he was murdered.

The Iceman’s new genome also reveals he had male-pattern baldness and much darker skin than artistic representations suggest. Genes conferring light skin tones didn’t become prevalent until 4,000 to 3,000 years ago when early farmers started eating plant-based diets and didn’t get as much vitamin D from fish and meat as hunter-gathers did, Krause says. As Ötzi and other ancient people’s DNA illustrate, the skin color genetic changes took thousands of years to become commonplace in Europe. “People that lived in Europe between 40,000 years ago and 8,000 years ago were as dark as people in Africa, which makes a lot of sense because [Africa is] where humans came from,” he says. “We have always imagined that [Europeans] became light-skinned much faster. But now it seems that this happened actually quite late in human history.”

Otzi was lactose intolerant btw.

🎬 want to hop on the movie asks train so uhhh 1934 and 1997? either or both, whichever you want 💕

1934: overall I am going to say Sadie McKee but I absolutely have to shout out Bette’s performance in Of Human Bondage

1997: why is the answer to this Scream 2

Ötzi the Iceman’s true appearance revealed by new DNA analysis

A new study of ancient DNA extracted from Ötzi’s pelvis suggests he still has some secrets to give up. The analysis of his genetic makeup has revealed the 5,300-year-old mummy had dark skin and dark eyes — and was likely bald. This stands in contrast to the reconstruction of Ötzi that depicts a pale-skinned man with a full head of hair and a beard.

“It was previously believed that his skin has darkened during the mummification process,” said Albert Zink, head of the Institute for Mummy Studies at Eurac Research, a private research center based in Bolzano.

“It seems that the dark skin color of the mummy is quite close to the Iceman’s skin color during (his) lifetime,” said Zink, who is a coauthor of the research published Wednesday in the scientific journal Cell Genomics.

It’s not that surprising that Ötzi was dark skinned, said Zink via email, noting that many Europeans at that time likely had darker skin pigmentation than many present-day Europeans.

“Early European farmers still had a quite dark skin, that changed with time to a lighter skin, as an adaption to the changes in climate and diet of the farmers. Farmers consume much less vitamin D in their diet compared to hunter-gatherers,” he explained.

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Pale skin is a very recent evolutionary adaptation, especially in Europe.

Our Lady Of Omega wishes everyone and its followers an (Un) Happy World Goth Day.

Ballad of Oiwa by Ötzi from the free Artoffact Records 2019 sampler

Turns out Ötzi was bald and black