DNA analysis reveals 'Ötzi' the Iceman looked quite different than we thought
Otzi
Latest research on "Ötzi," the Neolithic Iceman has revealed something unexpected about his genetic heritage. Ötzi has undergone extensive studies in the past. The latest study involved creation of a high-coverage genome.
The report on the latest research has been published in the journal Cell Genomics, reported AFP. In the report, scientists have shown that Ötzi had characteristics that were different thanhis earlier depictions. The analysis has notably uncovered that Ötzi had a dark skin, dark eyes and even a receding hairline.
"We could confirm some things like he had brown eyes, but we found out that the skin colour is much darker, than we thought," Albert Zink of Eurac Research, Institute for Mummy Studies in Bolzano, Italy, told Reuters.
"We found out that he was most likely bald, so he had that genetic predisposition to lose his hair."
Previous researchhad shown a genetic affinity between Ötzi and modern Sardinians. But researchers now believe that the previous conclusions were drawn before a broader spectrum of human genomes was available.
"The main difference was regarding his ancestry, because we could on one hand confirm that he had this typical Anatolian ancestry that is typical for the Neolithic people that came from Anatolia and migrated to Europe at the time," Zink added.
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The latest study has shown that over 92 per cent of Ötzi's genetic makeup originates from early Anatolian farmers. This puts a new light on migratory history of Europeans.
The findings of the report also points at the Alpine region serving as a genetic barrier that limited genetic exchange between the Iceman's populations and other communities which were situated north and west of the Alps.
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Regarded as one of the most exceptionally preserved ice mummies, Ötzi was found by hikers in the Tyrolean Alps in 1991. Standing 160 centimetres tall (approx. 5 feet 2 inches), Ötzi was about 45 years old when he met his death from an arrow shot by an unknown assailant about 5,300 years ago.
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