Nope, thanks, will check it out. Lots of possibilities using Otzi and his time for the staging -- perhaps he had been the chieftain, and was overthrown, driven out, and then hunted down by his tribe. Maybe he was a serial jackass and found himself among a group that wouldn't put up with his BS. Maybe he was considered a poacher by some locals who killed him. Perhaps he was just murdered by a gang of stone age highwaymen.
Might have got somone’s wife pregnant while the husband was out on a long hunt...
The point in the photo has definitely been resharpened [new flakes driven off the edge], but that’s not unusual on a hafted tool. Making a blade dos not take near as much time as hafting it so there is a lot of incentive to “use up” a hafted tool until there’s not enough left to sharpen; in the course of such usage the function of the tool may change; an old blade may be better suited to prying open mussels or skinning than a new one, or even burnishing. The ideal tool for cutting, say hides, isn’t a well worked blade but simply a flake knocked off of a chert or obsidian core, esp. one with a hook to it.
Very true. All of those are possibilities as to what brought about his demise. It’s amazing what they have so far discovered from his remains. They’ve actually found living descendants based on his DNA.
I enjoy reading the different humorous theories about ol’ Otzi.
It reminds me of my kitchen table. It’s a beautiful, solid maple table (from the 40s? 50s? 60s?) that I scored at a thrift shop for 100 bucks. Its simple but interesting style and woodgrain say, “I’m a timeless American classic.”.
It was well cared for. Now it is likely living far from its birthplace.
I sometimes wonder what life it lived. How many homework assignments were done on it? What were Mom’s special recipes? Did it belong to one family, then the younger generation needed to clear out the grandparents’ barn? What family stories does it know? How many secrets?
There’s no price on the mysterious history that came along with the table. Or the wonder it inspires.