Otzi Tribe Summary

Ambushed in the Alps

Ötzi, a man of repute in his tribe, went up into the mountains above his home to seek counsel from the gods. On his return trip, Ötzi was ambushed. He shot some attackers, but one he faces hand-to-hand. Ötzi won his fight, but with it a terrible scar. His hand was wounded so that he could barely use it. Leaving his shattered bow and retrieving his arrows, Ötzi set off once again to his village. Once Ötzi returned, a council was called. It was decided to send a group of warriors into the mountains to find out if any other enemies remained in their land. So Ötzi lead a group of fifteen warriors back up to the mountains. This time weapons of war were brought rather than the hunting weapons that were allowed on a spiritual quest. It was a long hike up the mountains and the large group took their time and stopped for meals and sleep along the way. And so they reached the peak of the mountains and were ambushed. No one can say precisely how the fight proceeded, but it ended with Ötzi’s tribe victorious and Ötzi dead. After the fight, finding their leader dead, Ötzi’s fellows honored him. With his weapons laid out and his gear assembled so that he could find it in the next life, Ötzi the Iceman

Perhaps the most common is the belief that Ötzi was fleeing from a battle when he was shot in the back by an enemy. There are several facts that discredit that theory. One is that after he was shot, Ötzi was hit in the head. Any enemy close enough to knock Ötzi in the head would also have taken his copper axe to use in the battle. This would not have been the case if Ötzi was not alone when he died, but fighting in a skirmish, or small fight. Then his surviving fellow warriors would have protected him and given him an honorable funeral after victory was gained. Also, Ötzi was not fleeing from anything when he died. His full stomach of undigested food proves that the Iceman ate a full meal hours before he