“If Oetzi was killed by enemy fighters, why didn’t they take his copper axe, or his quiver?”
One article I read used your two points here, as well as the fact that the killer removed his own arrow from the body, as arguments that the iceman was killed by someone in his own tribe. Someone who didn’t want to get caught, either by leaving his own arrow in the iceman’s back, or by showing up in camp with his property. Made pretty good sense to me.
Good points, but it might not have been solo combat, two groups might have met, one opponent shot him with an arrow, another bashed in his head. They were too busy with his comrades to worry about looting his corpse at the time (and may not have survived the encounter.)
The arrow could have been broken off and lost in any number of ways.