ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2002
Otzi's last meals: DNA analysis of the intestinal content of the Neolithic glacier mummy from the Alps.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2002. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 116 citations in OpenAlex.
- Probiotic normalization of systemic inflammation in siblings of type 1 diabetes patients: an open-label pilot study.Scientific reports · 2022Trial
- Multimodal imaging and molecular analysis of a 350-year-old purple heron mummy.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Ötzi the Iceman: forensic 3D reconstructions of a 5300-year-ago murder case.International journal of legal medicine · 2025Article
- A composite universal DNA signature for the tree of life.Nature ecology & evolution · 2025Article
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- The Iceman's Last Meal Consisted of Fat, Wild Meat, and Cereals.Current biology : CB · 2018Article
- Genome Sequencing of Ancient Plant Remains: Findings, Uses and Potential Applications for the Study and Improvement of Modern Crops.Frontiers in plant science · 2018Review
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- A whole mitochondria analysis of the Tyrolean Iceman's leather provides insights into the animal sources of Copper Age clothing.Scientific reports · 2016Article
- The 5300-year-old Helicobacter pylori genome of the Iceman.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2016Article
- Anatomical confirmation of computed tomography-based diagnosis of the atherosclerosis discovered in 17th century Korean mummy.PloS one · 2015Article
- Population genomic analysis of ancient and modern genomes yields new insights into the genetic ancestry of the Tyrolean Iceman and the genetic structure of Europe.PLoS genetics · 2014Article
- 20 years since the introduction of DNA barcoding: from theory to application.Journal of applied genetics · 2014Review
- Positioning the red deer (Cervus elaphus) hunted by the Tyrolean Iceman into a mitochondrial DNA phylogeny.PloS one · 2014Article
- Immunity, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease.BMC medicine · 2013Review
- The iceman cometh.Investigative genetics · 2012Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Samples of the intestinal content were collected from the ileum and colon of the Neolithic glacier mummy popularly known as the Tyrolean Iceman, or Otzi. DNA was extracted from the samples and PCR amplified, using a variety of primer pairs designed to bind to different genes (mammal mitochondrial 12S ribosomal RNA gene, plant/fungal nuclear 18S ribosomal RNA gene, plant chloroplast ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase large subunit gene). This made it possible to distinguish between animal and plant food residues (macroremains) and pollen (microremains). According to the DNA reconstruction, the man's last meal was composed of red deer (Cervus elaphus) meat, and, possibly, cereals; this meal had been preceded by another one based on ibex (Capra ibex), different species of dicots, and cereals. The DNA spectrum corresponding to pollen residues in the colon, on the other hand, fits with the hypothesis that the last journey of the Neolithic hunter/warrior was made through a subalpine coniferous forest to the site at over 3,200 m above sea level, where his mummified body was to be discovered 5,000 years later.
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