New culprit in iceman’s death

Researchers studying Otzi, the 5,000-year-old mummy found frozen in the Italian Alps, believe he died of head trauma, not from the wound of an arrow. Two months ago, researchers in Switzerland published an article in the Journal of Archaeological Science saying the man died after an arrow tore a hole in an artery beneath his left collarbone, leading to massive blood loss, shock and heart attack.

But radiologists, pathologists and other researchers, using new forensic information and CT scans, say they believe blood loss from the arrow wound only made Otzi lose consciousness. They say he died either from hitting his head on a rock when he passed out or because his attacker hit him in the head.