[Science Report]:Icemans Death


This is the VOA SpecialEnglish SCIENCE REPORT.

A leading expert on ancient mountain cultures has a theory abouta man who died more than five-thousand years ago. The man's body wasfound in a piece of ice high in the Alps Mountains in northern Italyin Nineteen-Ninety-One. Newspapers called him the Iceman.

Johan Reinhard suspects the Iceman was killed as an offering tothe gods. Mister Reinhard is famous for his discoveries of humanremains in the Andes Mountains of South America. Many of the remainswere of children sacrificed to mountain gods.

Mister Reinhard works for the National Geographic Society. Histheory is reported in National Geographic magazine.

Mister Reinhard admits that some scientists are dismissing histheory. Yet, he says, it is time to re-examine all the evidence.

Two German climbers discovered the Iceman more thanthree-thousand meters above sea level. Ice had protected the bodyfor thousands of years. It was the oldest and best preserved ancientbody ever found.

When the Iceman was discovered, some scientists suggested that hehad fallen asleep and died in the snow or was killed in a fall. Abow and arrows were found with the Iceman. This led some people tobelieve that he died while hunting animals.

Later, his remains and other objects were transported to Bolzano,Italy. They are now kept at the South Tyrol Museum of Archeology.The body is kept cool in a special observation area at the museum.

Last year, scientists announced the cause of death. Thescientists used x-ray equipment to produce images of the Iceman'supper chest. They found an arrowhead under the left shoulder.Scientists said he was killed by an arrow that tore through hisback.Mister Reinhard says the killing might have been either amurder or an offering to the gods. The body was found in a long,narrow area between two of the highest mountains in the Alps. MisterReinhard says this is the kind of place where people from mountaincultures traditionally made offerings to their gods.

He also notes that a valuable copper ax was found near the body.He says a murderer would have stolen something this valuable. Hebelieves the tool may have been left to serve the victim in theafterlife or as an offering to the gods.

This VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT was written by GeorgeGrow.

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