Scientists have deciphered the last meal of a 5,300-year-old hunter whose frozen body was found in the Alps.
The contents of the stomach of the hunter called Ötziel Iceman allow a glimpse of what the ancient Europeans ate five millennia ago, the researchers said.
The menu, described in the journal Current Biology, included wild goat meat and fat, red deer meat and whole wheat seeds , which Ötzi ate shortly before his death.
Traces of ferns and spores were also discovered. Scientists believe that he swallowed the plant unintentionally or perhaps as a remedy for the parasites found in his intestine.
Although the researchers had examined Ötzi’s intestines, they were now able to study his stomach. The reason is that after the death of the man, the organ moved upwards.
It was only in 2009, 18 years after the discovery of the remains near the border between Italy and Austria, that a radiologist detected it behind the thoracic cage. After slowly defrosting the body, the team took samples and rehydrated them .
Almost half of the stomach content was ibex fat, a wild alpine goat. It’s a lot of fat, but scientists think the finding is logical.
“It was a difficult environment,” said microbiologist Frank Maixner, lead author of the study. “They should be prepared. They should eat foods that give them the necessary energy “ to survive.
