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Alongside Otzi the Iceman: a bounty of ancient mosses and liverworts
EurekAlert! ^ | October 30, 2019 | PLOS

Posted on 11/03/2019 3:24:56 PM PST by SunkenCiv

Ötzi the Iceman is a remarkable 5,300-year-old human specimen found frozen in ice approximately 3,200 meters above sea level in the Italian Alps. He was frozen alongside his clothing and gear as well as an abundant assemblage of plants and fungi. In this study, Dickson and colleagues aimed to identify the mosses and liverworts preserved alongside the Iceman.

Today, 23 bryophyte species live the area near where Ötzi was found, but inside the ice the researchers identified thousands of preserved bryophyte fragments representing at least 75 species. It is the only site of such high altitude with bryophytes preserved over thousands of years. Notably, the assemblage includes a variety of mosses ranging from low-elevation to high-elevation species, as well as 10 species of liverworts, which are very rarely preserved in archaeological sites. Only 30% of the identified bryophytes appear to have been local species, with the rest having been transported to the spot in Ötzi's gut or clothing or by large mammalian herbivores whose droppings ended up frozen alongside the Iceman.

From these remains, the researchers infer that the bryophyte community in the Alps around 5,000 years ago was generally similar to that of today. Furthermore, the non-local species help to confirm the path Ötzi took to his final resting place. Several of the identified moss species thrive today in the lower Schnalstal valley, suggesting that Ötzi traveled along the valley during his ascent. This conclusion is corroborated by previous pollen research, which also pinpointed Schnalstal as the Iceman's likely route of ascent.

(Excerpt) Read more at eurekalert.org ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: ancientautopsies; bryophytes; godsgravesglyphs; otzi; otzitheiceman; qanon; theiceman
Taphonomic processes. These led to the deposition of flowering plant remains at the Ö discovery site according to Heiss and Oeggl. Credit: Dickson et al, 2019

Taphonomic processes. These led to the deposition of flowering plant remains at the Ö discovery site according to Heiss and Oeggl. Credit: Dickson et al, 2019

1 posted on 11/03/2019 3:24:56 PM PST by SunkenCiv
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To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; 31R1O; ...
Since Otzi was frozen solid for thousands of years, it's obvious that his last name is Kohn.

2 posted on 11/03/2019 3:26:32 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv

“Only 30% of the identified bryophytes appear to have been local species, with the rest having been transported to the spot in Ötzi’s gut or clothing or by large mammalian herbivores whose droppings ended up frozen alongside the Iceman”.
Can’t bring themselves to believe those things were carried there by the Noahic Flood.


3 posted on 11/03/2019 3:34:07 PM PST by Tucker39 ("It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible." George Washington)
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To: SunkenCiv
"Furthermore, the non-local species help to confirm the path Ötzi took to his final resting place."

Which happens to be right here, actually:


4 posted on 11/03/2019 3:38:15 PM PST by Telepathic Intruder
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To: Tucker39
Yes, because they weren't.

5 posted on 11/03/2019 3:49:14 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Telepathic Intruder

LOL


6 posted on 11/03/2019 3:50:01 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Telepathic Intruder

Would the South Tyroleans prefer to be in Austria? I ask because the signage looks to be in German.


7 posted on 11/03/2019 3:54:06 PM PST by hanamizu
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To: Telepathic Intruder

His Own Museum,
.
Otzi goes see it!


8 posted on 11/03/2019 4:21:21 PM PST by Big Red Badger (Despised by the Despicable!)
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To: SunkenCiv

Interesting. I wonder what types of mosses and worts they found in his intestines, and if he ate them or just ingested the spores with other food.


9 posted on 11/03/2019 4:26:41 PM PST by Tax-chick (Down with the ChiComs! Independence for Hong Kong!)
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To: hanamizu

Interesting point! Maybe there’s Italian signage around the corner.

According to Wikipedia, local language is about 75% Italian to 25% German. However, if tourist traffic includes more German-speakers, it would make sense to have all tourism-related signage in both languages.


10 posted on 11/03/2019 4:31:11 PM PST by Tax-chick (Down with the ChiComs! Independence for Hong Kong!)
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To: Big Red Badger

Otzi better watch out for the big shiny moving things. They’re not stone, they’re not animal, they’re not plant. What are they?


11 posted on 11/03/2019 5:50:38 PM PST by Telepathic Intruder
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To: hanamizu
Dunno. The sign looks English, unless "iceman" is the same in both.


12 posted on 11/03/2019 5:58:03 PM PST by Telepathic Intruder
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To: hanamizu
The South Tyrol was part of Austria until after WWI, when it was given to Italy because the Italians joined what turned out to be the winning side in the war. A large part of the population speaks German and the towns tend to have a German version and an Italian version of their name.

I just happened to look at the "Ancient Origins" section on my Family Tree DNA account. There is an icon in the Switzerland/Austria area and I clicked on it. It was all about O"tzi, who was described as belonging to a 4th millennium BCE farming culture from what is currently known as South Tyrol, Austria.

Maybe someone should tell them that South Tyrol now belongs to Italy.

13 posted on 11/03/2019 6:50:52 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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To: Verginius Rufus

As I recall, Ötzi was found just yards inside the unmarked border between Italy and Austria. There was some squabble over which side of the line he was on.


14 posted on 11/03/2019 7:15:08 PM PST by hanamizu
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To: hanamizu

Yes, at first they were not sure whether the find spot was in Austria or Italy but it was determined to be in Italy (by 100 meters?) and that’s why his remains are now in Bolzano, Italy, the nearest big town on the Italian side of the border.


15 posted on 11/04/2019 5:46:59 AM PST by Verginius Rufus
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To: Verginius Rufus
""It was all about O"tzi, who was described as belonging to a 4th millennium BCE farming culture from what is currently known as South Tyrol, Austria.

" “To answer that question, Sikora's team sequenced Ötzi's entire genome and compared it with those from hundreds of modern-day Europeans, as well as the genomes of a Stone Age hunter-gatherer found in Sweden, a farmer from Sweden, a 7,000-year-old hunter-gatherer iceman found in Iberia, and an Iron Age man found in Bulgaria. The team confirmed that, of modern people, Sardinians are Ötzi's closest relatives. But among the prehistoric quartet, Ötzi most closely resembled the farmers found in Bulgaria and Sweden, while the Swedish and Iberian hunter-gatherers looked more like present-day Northern Europeans. ||*|| "

16 posted on 11/04/2019 9:05:40 AM PST by blam
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To: blam
Oetzi's mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is in the K haplogroup, but in a subgroup (K1f) which may now be extinct.

His Y-DNA haplogroup is G2a2b or G-L91. The G group is absent or very rare in many European populations but includes about 12-14% of the men in Sardinia.

17 posted on 11/04/2019 12:07:41 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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To: Verginius Rufus

Oetzi’s mitochondrial
This means he was a Jedi!!
Not a very good one though....


18 posted on 11/04/2019 7:52:05 PM PST by minnesota_bound (homeless guy. He just has more money....)
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To: minnesota_bound

Amazing. How did they ever get mitochondrial DNA from a Jedi?


19 posted on 11/05/2019 7:28:58 AM PST by Verginius Rufus
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To: Verginius Rufus

The hard way with a lightsaber.


20 posted on 11/05/2019 10:59:16 AM PST by minnesota_bound (homeless guy. He just has more money....)
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