'We know that they were real tattoos,' Albert Zink, head of the Institute for Mummies and the Iceman in Bolzano, Italy told LiveScience. Ötzi had 61 tattoos across his body, including his left … Anthropologists mapped the ink on the 5,300-year-remains using a new imaging technique, revealing previously-unknown tattoos. What Ötzi the Iceman’s Tattoos Reveal About Copper Age Medical Practices New study argues that the 5,300-year-old Iceman’s community boasted … Oetzi the Iceman Has World's Oldest Tattoos The Iceman, who died between 3370 and 3100 B.C., has 61 marks on his body made by fine incisions into which charcoal was rubbed. Proving that tattoos can age well, all 61 tattoos on the mummified Ötzi the Iceman have been mapped — and they still look pretty darn good, all things considered. A thorough scan of Ötzi The Iceman's mummified body determined that his 61 tattoos served a medical purpose. The mummy was found in September 1991 by two German hikers in the Schnalstal glacier, Ötztal Alps, near Hauslabjoch on the border between Austria and Italy. Some of the tattoos found on Ötzi, a 5,300-year-old iceman found in the Italian Alps in 1991. Credit: Marco Samadelli . Ötzi was discovered in 1991 by a pair of German hikers in the Otztal Alps, near the border between Austria and Italy. Ötzi the iceman tattoos. Around his ankles, his wrist, his. The debate about the world’s oldest tattoos is over—they belong to Ötzi, the European Tyrolean Iceman who died and was buried beneath an Alpine glacier along the Austrian–Italian border around 3250 B.C. Researchers named the mummy the “Tyrolean Iceman” or “Ötzi,” due to the region in which he rested all those years, and they began a detailed examination of his remains. Without question, the most intriguing aspect of the mummy was the presence of 61 ancient tattoos. Ancient and traditional practices. Researchers think these tattoos may have been a primitive form of medical treatment, because they were mostly placed on areas of his body that likely caused him pain or discomfort. This frozen mummy was discovered in the area of the Italian-Austrian border in 1991, and is believed to be around 5,200 years old. There has long been speculation about the purpose of the tattoos on the body of Ötzi the Iceman, a 5,300-year-old mummy, who was discovered by some German tourists in … Preserved tattoos on ancient mummified human remains reveal that tattooing has been practiced throughout the world for many centuries. Nicknamed Ötzi, the Iceman, and Frozen Fritz, the body of a man who was around 40–50 years old when he died in the Copper Age. Ötzi's newly discovered tattoo, on the lower right side of the mummy's chest. As a spokesman for the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology explained, “Radiological images of the tattooed areas show degenerative areas under the tattoos … At present, the earliest known tattoos can be found on the body of the naturally preserved mummy commonly known as ‘Ötzi the Iceman’.