Rumours of a curse afflicting the Iceman’s researchers have been around for several years. And the modern day humans involved in Ötzi’s discovery do seem to have a bit of a hard time since they found his body on the Austrian- Italian border. The climber who first found our frozen friend died in a blizzard. One of the expert mountaineers called in to help with the retrieval was killed in an avalanche. Reiner Henn, a forensic archeologist, was killed in a crash on the way to a conference about the Iceman. A film-maker present at the retrieval also died from a fatal brain tumor. Dr Tom Loy the geneticist also died. And Professor Konrad Spindler, the noted Austrian archeologist, who refused to believe there was ever a mummy’s curse also died.
So is Ötzi cursed? While it’s impossible to say with absolute certainty it’s probably not the case. Mountaineering is a dangerous activity with a tragically high rate of fatalities. And sadly, people from all works of life die in car crashes and from natural causes every day. Over the years hundreds of people have come into contact with Ötzi, statistically a number of these people were always likely to die in a sudden accident or younger than expected. (via LiveScience)
