New theory on iceman killing

[I, Brian]

The story of Oetzi just won't go away - and yet again a new controversial interpretation of his fate has been suggested:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/3146069.stm

Scientists in Australia think they may have solved one of the world's oldest murder mysteries - a 5,000-year-old old Ice Age hunter whose body revealed he had been brutally shot in the back with an arrow.

Researchers at the University of Queensland have used DNA analysis to piece together the final hours of the man - whose frozen body was discovered 12 years ago in a remote Italian Alpine pass.

And their studies suggest he died as a result of warfare rather than murder - which may close the longest criminal case in human history.

Oetzi's discovery created both scientific and psychological interest, with many experts theorising that his fate could prove to be the first recorded case of murder.

'Skirmish'

But Dr Ian Findlay, of the Australian Genome Research Facility in Brisbane said: "We analysed samples, scrapings from the knife, the axe and from his jacket and it indicates that the blood samples are actually from several different individuals."

There was also the blood of two people on an arrowhead found alongside Oetzi's body. This suggests he was not murdered, but instead strayed into another tribe's territory and got involved in a fight, the scientists say.

Dr Tom Loy, director of Queensland University's Institute of Molecular Bioscience, said that Oetzi gave as good as he got, firing his arrow into two of his enemies, pulling his precious weapon out of their bodies each time.

"He probably got into a skirmish with some other people and eventually got shot in the back," he said. "It looks as if he may have some defensive wounds on his hands and some bruises that also indicates fairly fierce hand-to-hand combat."

But Oetzi was finally overcome and struck by an enemy arrow himself.

Oetzi's body was discovered by hikers in the Schnalstal glacier high in the Italian Alps in 1991. He was initially thought to be a modern climber - until an axe and a quiver of arrows were found nearby.