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351 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
On the slab lies the shrivelled corpse of a man, naked except for a strange, grass filles shoe [...] Laid out on the same slab, on a piece of green cloth, are the other finds - the axe, a small dagger and a wooden stick with holes in it. I only need a few seconds. This is something that any first-year archeology student could identify [...] I straighten up and give my verdict: "Roughly four thousand years old". [The forensic experts] look at me with total disbelief.Most of his conclusions (for example that Ötzi died of exhaustion or was possibly buried) are already outdated at this time of writing (August 2020) but for this he can be excused of course, as this book was written in 1994. In later times, for example with the DNA technology, a lot more interesting facts came to be known. All in all, this book might be a good choice for somebody wanting to read about the initial discovery and subsequent consternation. For somebody looking for an up-to-date overview of all the findings, this book might not be the right choice.