Snowman Yates

 Yates was killed by an arrow, 5300 years ago! 

When we learn how the snowman Yates died, we unconsciously remember Sherlock Holmes! The mystery of a massacre that took place in the Alps 5300 years ago is being unraveled. Archaeologists searching for the details of that death are, in a sense, modern Sherlock Holmes. 

On September 19, 1991, German climbers Helmut and Erika Simon found the body trapped in a snowdrift in the Alps. It was in the Otztal Alps region, at an altitude of ten thousand feet between Austria and Italy. Therefore, the snowman was named 'Otzi'. Yates was destined to become the most important archaeological discovery of the 20th century! 

The first people who discovered Yates thought it was the body of a mountaineer who had died in the snow. Archaeologist Konrad Spindler of the University of Innsbruck in Austria had only to examine the copper ore found in the snow along with the mummy to conclude that the Iceman was at least four thousand years old. Further study revealed that Yates was 5300 years old. Older than the Egyptian pyramids and the Stonehenge monument in England. Yates, one of the first representatives of ancient humans who had moved from the Stone Age to the Metal Age, used stone tools in addition to copper ore. 

Since its discovery, Yates has generated a flood of amazing information.  It would seem that Yates is a messenger who started his journey five thousand years ago and got lost and arrived in modern times, if you look at the extent of the information found in Yates! The snowman provided information related to the Neolithic Age in Europe that was not available from any other source. Various researchers have 'dug out' from Yates about everything from clothing and weapons to agriculture of that time. 

He truly became a hero in the media. He was the subject of documentary films and many books, and even made the cover story of Time magazine. The cover story begins something like this: Researchers all over the world were eager to examine him, women sought the possibility of giving birth to one of his children, and heads of government waited for his details! He is currently kept in the 'South Tyrol Archaeological Museum' in the town of Bolzano, Italy. 

If we summarize the information found so far, it would be like this: Name: Snowman, nickname: Yates, male, height: 1.60 meters, body weight: 13.78 kilograms, gray eyes, blood type: O, 61 tattoos on the body. (The scientific world was surprised to learn that Neolithic people had tattoos on their bodies. This is even the first time that such information has been received.) 

Until now, researchers have only had bone fragments, stone tools, arrowheads, pottery shards, and some dry evidence that marks the beginning of the Metal Age to understand the Neolithic Age. With the discovery of Yates, the whole story changed. The copper amulets, clothing, feathered arrows, and handles of tools and weapons found with that mummy were never seen by modern man. The shoes made of leather and plant fibers were covered and reinforced with grass. 

Yates was initially 'custody' at the University of Innsbruck, thinking that the place where he was found was within Austrian borders. However, it later became clear that Yates's body was found on Italian territory, a hundred yards from the Austrian border. Although Italy immediately claimed it, Yates did not reach Italy until 1998. Yates was kept in a specially prepared refrigerated chamber in the town of Bolzano. The building complex became the 'South Tyrol Archaeological Museum'. 

After painstaking analysis by Klaus Ogle of the Institute of Botany in Innsbruck, who collected 40 milligrams of material from Yates's intestines, it was discovered that Yates had eaten bread made from 'einkorn'. Einkorn is a wild variety of wheat.  This suggests that the community to which Yates belonged had begun farming. Pollen found on Yates' body suggests that he died in late spring.

Although evidence indicated that Yates was male, the Austrian researchers who first examined it were unable to find Yates' genitals. This gave rise to some speculation. Following this, a German journalist published a book in 1993 alleging that the entire discovery was a hoax, a play on an Egyptian mummy to boost tourism. When the book came out, the researchers decided to take a closer look at the matter. The examination confirmed that their initial conclusion was wrong and that Yates did have genitals. 

Despite all this information being discovered, one important question remained unanswered. Why did Yates climb 10,000 feet into the Alps to die in the snow? 

The Innsbruck researchers had initially discovered that some of Yates' ribs were broken.  In 2001, an X-ray study by Eduard Egerton Wiggle and radiologist Paul Gostener of Bolzano found an arrowhead embedded in Yates's body, just below his left shoulder. They concluded that Yates had been shot from behind. However, a study by researchers at the University of Innsbruck in 2011 suggested that the Iceman was not killed. They suggested that he may have fallen while climbing a mountain. In 2013, researchers at the European Academy in Bolzano suggested that Yates had been hit in the head. In 2015, a study by researchers at the Institute of Mummies and the Iceman concluded that Yates died shortly after being shot. 

Austrian film director and image editor Thomas Bonfert wrote his doctoral thesis on the cause of Yates' death.  When the research was completed, Bonfert concluded: Yates was killed by an enemy arrow from behind! Bonfert, a radiology technologist and anthropologist, conducted a detailed study on the matter. The arrow, which came from below, pierced Yates's left cheekbone and injured a major blood vessel. He must have lost the ability to move his left arm. The hemorrhage and heart attack may have taken Yates's life!

Mummy specialist Albert Zink of the Bolzano European Academy and his colleagues had previously found that Yates had eaten his last meal before he was shot. Meat fibers were found in Yates's stomach, indicating that he had eaten wild goat meat. He may have carried food in his hand during his last journey. 

The researchers concluded that Yates was likely a soldier or a hunter.  That is what the bow, arrows and copper ore indicate. He may have been killed by the opposing tribesmen with arrows during the encounter.