Italy's famous Iceman mummy,
Oetzi, is set to tour the United States and Canada after a plan
to make a lifesize copy was unveiled at the Alto Adige
Archaeological Museum Wednesday.
The sculpture, crafted by top US 'palaeo-artist' Gary Staab,
in collaboration with the Cold Spring Harbor Dna
Learning Center in New York, will start its tour in October
2017 at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in
Raleigh.
Other dates are yet to be announced.
Another two copies of the Iceman are already on show at the
Cold Spring Harbor DNA Learning Center.
Oetzi, older than the Pyramids, is the world's oldest wet
mummy.
He was discovered in 1991 in a thawing glacier on the
slopes of the Similaun mountain in the Oetztal Alps, from which
he gets his name.
Oetzi is one of the world's most famous palaeontological
finds, and new discoveries are being made about him all the
time.
In 2012 traces of blood were found on him, the oldest
blood sample ever found.
A year previously the first complete DNA map of the ancient
man found that he was lactose intolerant, or unable to digest a
sugar in milk.
The study also showed Oetzi had a predisposition towards
heart disease, a finding corroborated by the thickened arteries
in the body.
The mapping said the Iceman probably suffered from Lyme
Disease, a tick-borne infection whose symptoms may include
fever, headache, fatigue, depression, and a characteristic
circular skin rash.
According to an international team, the rugged mountain man
also shared a common ancestor with the inhabitants of today's
Sardinia and Corsica and his blood group was O.
The body, which dates back to 3000 BC, has spawned a
global cottage industry of studies.
As well as discoveries about what he ate and what
illnesses he suffered from, there has been a keen debate on how
he died from the arrow wound found in his body - initially,
it was thought, in a fight with rival hunters.
One theory says he was assassinated in a tribal power
struggle.
Another suggested he was the victim of ritual sacrifice.
Another study - fiercely contested by patriotic
residents of the formerly Austrian region who see Oetzi as
their proud forefather - reckons he was cast out from his
community because a low sperm count rendered him childless.
An eerie aura has also grown around the Iceman because
of the allegedly mysterious deaths of seven people who came
into contact with him soon after he was found.
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