Ötzi the Iceman’s 61 Tattoos Explained

Ötzi the Iceman has been studied for decades, but one detail took researchers years to fully document: exactly how many tattoos covered his 5,300-year-old skin.

The Oldest Tattooed Skin Ever Found

Hikers discovered Ötzi’s naturally mummified body in the European Alps in 1991, and he remains the oldest intact human body ever found. He died around 3,500 BC, and scientists have since reconstructed an unusually detailed picture of his life: his age, his diet, his clothing and equipment, and health issues including heart disease, gum disease, gallstones, and parasites. His genome has been sequenced, and living relatives have even been identified.

Sixty-One Marks, Finally Counted

One thing had remained frustratingly hard to pin down: his tattoos. Centuries of mummification had darkened Ötzi’s skin, making the marks nearly invisible to the naked eye. Italian researchers finally solved that problem using multispectral photographic imaging, a technique that let them see through the discoloration without damaging the body. Their analysis, published in the Journal of Cultural Heritage, confirmed a total of 61 tattoos, mostly simple parallel lines and X shapes, created by rubbing charcoal into small, deliberately made cuts in the skin.

A Body That Shows Signs of Chronic Pain

The tattoos’ locations turned out to be the most revealing part. Most cluster in areas that correspond closely to acupuncture points still used in traditional medicine today. One newly identified tattoo sits on Ötzi’s ribcage, nowhere near a joint, which researchers speculated could have been intended to treat chest pain specifically.

Not Just Decoration

That pattern led researchers to a striking conclusion: Ötzi’s tattoos likely weren’t decorative or symbolic in the way body art is often assumed to be. They may instead represent a form of therapy, possibly aimed at relieving joint pain from a physically demanding life. Dr. Albert Zink, director of the Institute for Mummies and the Iceman in Bolzano and one of the study’s authors, said having the exact number and location of every tattoo, over 20 years after Ötzi’s discovery, gives researchers a solid foundation for future work investigating exactly why these tattoos were made.

Sources

This report draws on original coverage by Smithsonian Magazine of a study published in the Journal of Cultural Heritage.