Are Iceman Blood Cells Really the Oldest? by Brian Thomas, M.S.
* Researchers discovered intact red blood cells in the body of
Ötzi the Iceman, a world-famous once-frozen natural mummy found
in the Alps in 1991. Livescience called them the "world's oldest
blood cells."1 But clear evidence shows that other blood cells
hold the real record. Forensic researchers have gleaned a wealth
of information about the Tyrolean Iceman, commonly known as
Ötzi. For example, chemical traces show places he had recently
been, tiny particles revealed his last meal of red deer and
bread, and his boots were likely made by an ancient professional
bootmaker. An arrowhead had lodged in his left shoulder,
damaging an artery and likely causing his death. Just this year,
geneticists sequenced his DNA, finding that modern inhabitants
of the Mediterranean's Corsica have the most similar sequences.2
Now, scientists discovered intact red blood cells in tissue
samples from a wound that his hand suffered, as well as the
arrow wound to the che