Secure Verified
| Title | : | Horizon |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | : | Documentary |
| Air Date | : | 2002-02-07 |
| Season Number | : | 39 |
| Episodes Number | : | 5 |
| Overview | : | In September 1991 two hikers made a sensational discovery - a frozen body high in the mountains, near the border between Austria and Italy. It turned out to be 5,300 years old, the oldest frozen mummy ever found. Named Ötzi the Iceman after the Ötztal area where he was found, he became a worldwide sensation. The body was taken to Austria where scientists soon got to work on him. They analysed his bone density to find out how old he was (in his 40s, an advanced age for the time) and examined his wonderfully preserved belongings. The cause of his death remained a mystery. Now archaeologists are being joined by forensic scientists to investigate this unique case and new research has revealed a shocking answer. The investigation into Ötzi's death started at the scene of discovery. By examining photos which had been taken at the site, Austrian archaeologist Konrad Spindler worked out the layout. He was particularly intrigued by the position of the Iceman's copper axe, which was found propped up against a rock. He believed that this must have been placed in that position by Ötzi himself which meant that everything at the site had been preserved in the position it was when Ötzi died. His body was slumped face down on the ground, his cap lay nearby just as if it had fallen from his head. Scientists also wanted to know when he died so they examined the ice in which he'd been found. This contained pollen that they could identify as coming from autumn-flowering plants, so they concluded that Ötzi had died in the autumn. Together, this evidence implied that the Iceman might have got caught in a storm and died of hypothermia. Then the scientists looked inside the iceman using X-rays and CAT (Computer Assisted Tomography) scans. They saw what looked like unhealed rib fractures. So Spindler came up with what he called his disaster theory. He believed Ötzi was a shepherd who, one autumn, was returning to his home village with his animals. When he got there he became involved in some kind of argument or battle. He suffered a severe injury to his chest, fracturing his ribs, but managed to escape. He fled into the mountains and made it to the top, but by then he was exhausted from his injuries. He lay down to rest in a sheltered gully where he died of hypothermia and was buried in ice. The theory seemed to make sense, but it would not go unchallenged for long. In 1998, Ötzi was transferred to Italy since the body had actually been found just inside the Italian border. There the iceman was placed on display in a specially built museum in the town of Bolzano. To put the finishing touch to their display, the museum contacted forensic pathologist Peter Vanezis to reconstruct Ötzi's face, based on the shape of the skull. Vanezis normally works from the skull itself, but in this case, of course, that was impossible. So using the 3D CAT scan data and a rapid prototyping machine, the Austrian team created a detailed life-size replica of the Iceman's skull and gave this to Vanezis. He then used a laser to scan the skull into his facial reconstruction system. This measures the proportions of the skull and shapes a generic face to match. This allowed him to recreate Ötzi's face at last. Vanezis also wanted to look again at the theory of Ötzi's death, to question assumptions that the archaeologists had made. More and more evidence was questioning the disaster theory. An examination of the contents of Ötzi's intestine found hop hornbeam pollen. This pollen was incredibly well preserved - the cell contents still intact. This could only mean that it had been consumed very soon after the flowering of the plant just before the Iceman died. And since the hop hornbeam only flowers between March and June he must have actually died in spring. Also, evidence from the body and objects showed that the site had melted at least once and so things weren't necessarily in the same position. And finally, new examinations of the ribs showed that they hadn't been fractured before death - but been bent out of shape after death. Scientists seemed to be back to square one. IIt seemed his death might be shrouded in mystery forever. Then in June 2001, his new custodians, the Italians, decided to X-ray the body again. A local hospital radiologist noticed what looked like a foreign object near the shoulder, a shadow in the shape of an arrow. When they looked at its density they found it was denser than bone, it was the same density as flint. They'd discovered a stone arrowhead embedded in Ötzi's shoulder, which had been missed despite 10 years of intensive study. Now scientists can tell a new story of the Iceman's death. Ötzi was attacked and managed to flee. As he ran he was shot in the back with an arrow. He pulled out the arrow shaft but the head remained stuck in his shoulder. He reached the top of the mountains but was now exhausted and weakened from bleeding. He could go no further, lay down and died. Although this story fits the latest results, there are still many unanswered questions. Scientists hope soon to conduct an autopsy to remove the arrowhead and only then will we be able to say for certain what killed Ötzi. The Iceman may still be hiding more secrets. |
| Stars | : |
February 03, 1964
Season 1
9 Episodes
January 06, 1965
Season 2
24 Episodes
January 02, 1966
Season 3
23 Episodes
January 17, 1967
Season 4
23 Episodes
January 02, 1968
Season 5
24 Episodes
January 02, 1969
Season 6
37 Episodes
January 05, 1970
Season 7
37 Episodes
January 04, 1971
Season 8
32 Episodes
January 03, 1972
Season 9
33 Episodes
January 04, 1973
Season 10
32 Episodes
January 07, 1974
Season 11
33 Episodes
January 20, 1975
Season 12
26 Episodes
January 05, 1976
Season 13
30 Episodes
January 07, 1977
Season 14
23 Episodes
January 06, 1978
Season 15
24 Episodes
February 26, 1979
Season 16
25 Episodes
January 14, 1980
Season 17
25 Episodes
January 05, 1981
Season 18
27 Episodes
January 11, 1982
Season 19
22 Episodes
January 10, 1983
Season 20
24 Episodes
January 09, 1984
Season 21
22 Episodes
January 07, 1985
Season 22
16 Episodes
January 06, 1986
Season 23
22 Episodes
January 05, 1987
Season 24
22 Episodes
January 04, 1988
Season 25
25 Episodes
January 09, 1989
Season 26
20 Episodes
January 08, 1990
Season 27
20 Episodes
January 07, 1991
Season 28
23 Episodes
January 06, 1992
Season 29
19 Episodes
January 04, 1993
Season 30
21 Episodes
January 10, 1994
Season 31
21 Episodes
January 09, 1995
Season 32
20 Episodes
January 08, 1996
Season 33
16 Episodes
February 27, 1997
Season 34
15 Episodes
February 19, 1998
Season 35
18 Episodes
January 28, 1999
Season 36
14 Episodes
January 12, 2000
Season 37
19 Episodes
January 25, 2001
Season 38
11 Episodes
January 10, 2002
Season 39
18 Episodes
January 09, 2003
Season 40
19 Episodes
January 08, 2004
Season 41
18 Episodes
January 13, 2005
Season 42
20 Episodes
January 12, 2006
Season 43
19 Episodes
March 13, 2007
Season 44
9 Episodes
January 15, 2008
Season 45
17 Episodes
January 26, 2009
Season 46
11 Episodes
October 13, 2009
Season 47
14 Episodes
September 26, 2010
Season 48
15 Episodes
August 08, 2011
Season 49
13 Episodes
July 23, 2012
Season 50
16 Episodes
August 12, 2013
Season 51
11 Episodes
August 17, 2014
Season 52
18 Episodes
March 16, 2016
Season 53
16 Episodes
January 19, 2017
Season 54
15 Episodes
February 05, 2018
Season 55
13 Episodes
January 23, 2019
Season 56
6 Episodes
January 16, 2020
Season 57
8 Episodes
January 04, 2021
Season 58
4 Episodes
March 31, 2022
Season 59
4 Episodes
