Trichuris trichiura Eggs in the Neolithic Glacier Mummy from the Alps

摘要

In September 1991, an exceptionally well-preserved mummy was found in a glacier in the Otztal Alps at an altitude of 3200m on Italian territory less than 100 m from the Austrian border. This mummy, which "has since become fa-'mous as the 'iceman fromthe Similaun' or 'the mummy from the Hauslabjoch', turned out to be the body of a 25-30 (possibly 40) year old man who had died about 5200-5300 years ago as determined by AMS (accelerator mass spectrometry) radiocarbon dating. For unknown reasons (as a hunter, shepherd, prospector, perhaps on a cultic mission or possibly as a refugee), the man had reached this high altitude. It must have been autumn, possibly September or even October. Totally exhausted and tormented by pain from broken ribs, he lay down, fell asleep and froze to death. At around the time of his death, it began to snow and loose smooth snow, permeable to air, covered the body. It must have remained cold so that a kind of lyophilization of the body took place. Later the man was surrounded by snow and ice that did not disappear at this altitude for more than 5000 years. Thus, the body became a dehydrated mummy, protected from the movements of the glacier as he lay in a rock furrow, It appeared only recently, after 5200 years, when the glacier started to melt. The existence of this mummy is the result of an incredible chain of causal events, and it is indeed a unique discovery.