Smith 1 Erin Smith Dr. Rolland Ant 220 A F

Smith 1 Erin Smith Dr. Rolland ANT 220 A F 28 October 2009 Response to Iceman: Hunt for a Killer While we were unfortunately unable to finish the documentary, I was fascinated by how the researchers treated Osti’s mummy and the excavation site as a crime scene. The way they were able to recreate the circumstances and do everyday detective work to crack a case from ~5,000 B.C. was astonishing. His death also shed a great deal of light on the conflict between agricultural societies in the Neolithic Stone Age, specifically the clash between people as they began to compete for better lands. The fact that Otsi was found with an arrow in his back, specifically designed for killing people, plus the blood found on the arrows from the Blue Pigment test, highlighted this conflict. Also interesting was the experimental archaeology used to prove how he’d been shot with the arrow and how they consulted an experienced mountain climber to prove that he had known the mountain pass he was on when he died. That, plus the fact that all of his equipment had been left exactly where Osti placed it, proved that Osti had been running from his attackers and had died 48 hours after the attack. While the video of the excavation revealing that Osti had been uncovered using a pickaxe was a minor detail in the documentary, it nevertheless struck me the most and has remained in my mind ever since. It was horrifying. I had previously thought that most people knew not to perform the excavation of a body in that way but apparently I was wrong. Additionally, how the knife was found and then thrown aside also deeply chagrined me.