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Ötzi the Iceman, Europe’s oldest mummy, likely suffered a head injury before he died roughly 5,300 years ago, according to a new protein analysis of his brain tissue.
A few years ago, a CAT scan showed dark spots at the back of the mummy’s cerebrum, indicating Ötzi also suffered a blow to the head that knocked his brain against the back of his skull during the fatal attack.
In the new study, scientists who looked at pinhead-sized samples of brain tissue from the corpse found traces of clotted blood cells, suggesting Ötzi indeed suffered bruising in his brain shortly before his death.
But there’s still a piece of the Neolithic murder mystery that remains unsolved: It’s unclear whether Ötzi’s brain injury was caused by being bashed over the head or by falling after being struck with the arrow, the researchers say.
The study was focused on proteins found in two brain samples from Ötzi, recovered with the help of a computer-controlled endoscope. Of the 502 different proteins identified, 10 were related to blood and coagulation, the researchers said. They also found evidence of an accumulation of proteins related to stress response and wound healing.
A separate 2012 study detailed in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface looked at the mummy’s red blood cells(the oldest ever identified) from a tissue sample taken from Ötzi’s wound. That research showed traces of a clotting protein called fibrin, which appears in human blood immediately after a person sustains a wound but disappears quickly. The fact that it was still in Ötzi’s blood when he died suggests he didn’t survive long after the injury.
“Proteins are the decisive players in tissues and cells, and they conduct most of the processes which take place in cells,” Andreas Tholey, a scientist at Germany’s Kiel University and a researcher on the new Ötzi study, said in a statement.
“Identification of the proteins is therefore key to understanding the functional potential of a particular tissue,” Tholey added. “DNA is always constant, regardless of from where it originates in the body, whereas proteins provide precise information about what is happening in specific regions within the body.”