There are tombs of unknown soldiers all over the world, commemorating the sacrifices of anonymous warriors. Generally, the memorials contain the body of one unidentified combatant, who died far from home.
In 1991, an unusually well-preserved 5000 year old soldier was found mummified in the Otztal Alps on the Austro-Italian border. Nicknamed Otzi, the 45 year-old man was five feet five inches tall and had been buried in ice, which explains his near miraculous preservation.
Scientists have learned a lot about Otzi, through careful examination, CAT Scans, microscopy, and DNA analysis. Otzi was probably courageous; he was strong, adept at survival. He was outfitted well for hunting, and battle. He carried a very sophisticated copper axe, with a 24 inch handle made of yew. He had a flake knife, and fourteen arrows.
Pollen analysis showed that Otzi was away from home. He’d been traveling for awhile. A pouch on his belt contained a scraper, flint flake, bone awl and drill. He also carried berries and pieces of antibacterial birch fungus.
Otzi was dressed for winter, in layers. He wore a grass cape, had leather leggings and coat. He wore what looked like very good shoes for tromping in the snow, with bearskin soles, and deer hide uppers. They were lined with grass.
On this winter trek, Otzi had apparently engaged in a raid that had gone badly. He had the blood of four different people on his gear, including blood on the back of his leather coat. It seemed that he’d carried a wounded comrade over his shoulder. He also had cuts on his hands, bruises on his chest, and had received a blow to the back of his head.
Otzi also had an arrow wound in his shoulder. A bad one. Someone had worked the shaft out from his back. Either loss of blood or a blood clot finally killed him.
This thorough study of Otzi was possible because he was so well preserved. We've learned a lot of his story, and so he’s managed to survive in our imaginations. This one ancient, unknown soldier has defied the odds of anonymity and become known. We even know that the poor guy had an internal parasite. His teeth were decayed, due to his high carbohydrate diet; he was lactose intolerant. We know that his last meals consisted of deer meat, herb bread, roots and berries. But there are also important things we haven’t learned about him. We don’t know his causes, or his enemies, let alone his culture and his family, or his comforts.
We humans have always been bothered by anonymity. We don’t want to be lost and forgotten, or worse, ostracized. We need to feel connected. Our embrace of social media is testimony to that. Putting a name on this unknown raider, studying him closely, brings him home to us.
It might even bring us closer to the millions of unknown soldiers who weren’t lucky enough to lie down in a bed of ice.
