Otzi Death in the

Mountains!

Key Concept: Evidence

On Thursday, September 19, 1991, at

about 1.30 p.m. on a sunny afternoon,
Erika and Helmut Simon, from Nuremberg
in Germany, were enjoying a vacation
walking through icy and rock-strewn
terrain high up on a mountain overlooking
the tz valley in the Alpine borderlands
between Austria and Italy. On their
descent from a peak near Tisenjoch the
Simons decided to take a shortcut and
they
strayed
a
little
from
the
recommended route, leaving the marked footpath. As they walked past a rocky
gully filled with meltwater, they noticed something brown on the gully bed. At
first they thought it must be some sort of rubbish, but on closer inspection they
realized with horror that they had discovered a human corpse.
The corpse lay with its chest against a flat rock
and its face obscured. Only the back of the
head, the bare shoulders and part of his back
jutted out of the ice and meltwater. Next to the
corpse the two hikers noticed several pieces of
rolled-up birch bark. Before leaving the scene,
they took a photograph of what they thought to
be the unfortunate victim of a hiking or
mountaineering accident in recent times,
perhaps only a few years back. At this point
nobody could have imagined that the dead man
and the objects around him were soon to gain
worldwide fame. The story of a 20th century
archaeological sensation was about to unfold!
After closer examination and carefully removing
the body to study further, it was discovered that
these remains actually belonged to Otzi - "The Iceman" - who died some 5,300
years ago! As more evidence and items were uncovered, the mystery of Otzis
death began to slowly unravel.

Your task is to examine the evidence surrounding the death

of Otzi the Iceman to discover what happened and why he
died.

Task 1: What
happened to Otzi
the Iceman?
1. Develop questions that will help guide your
investigation.
What do I already know?

What do I need to know?

2. Make a list of new words and their meanings to help your investigation:
New Words

Meaning

Task 2: Using the Evidence

Key Concept: Evidence, Significance
What happened to Otzi the Ice Man? Look at the evidence and select pieces that you
believe are important in unlocking the mystery of Otzis death. Write down what you
believe are the important pieces evidence and what they tell us about Otzi or the
circumstance surrounding his death.

Evidence

1.

2.

3.

4.

What it tells me

Evidence

5.

6.

7.

What it tells me

Task 3: Developing Interpretations

Key Concept: Contestability, Evidence

Carefully examine all of interpretations from different experts. What pieces of

evidence may support their theory?

Interpretations

Evidence to support
Interpretations

Interpretations

Evidence to support
Interpretations

Task 4: Creating a Chronology

Key Concept: Contestability, Significance, Cause and Effect

Drawing on all of the evidence that you have gathered, create a timeline or flowchart
that shows the events leading up to, and immediately after, Otzis death. This should

include explanations of key njuries and other significant events. For example: how did
blood end up on his arrows?

Task 5: Creating a report

Key Concept: Evidence, Significance, Contestability, Cause and Effect,

Now that you have viewed all the evidence and expert opinions, it is time for
you to develop your own interpretation of what really happened to Otzi. You
must create a report that explains your hypothesis in as much detail as you can
using examples of the evidence that support your theory.
Your report will need to have the following structure: Introduction, Body and
Conclusion.

See below for an example of how your report may be structured and the
headings you may want to use however, you may decide to use other headings
throughout your body.

1. Introduction: Overview of when and where Otzi was found and why there
is mystery surrounding his death. A bit of information about who Otzi may
have been during his life and how he may have lived. The introduction will
also contain your hypothesis.

2. Body:

Relevant Evidence - Equipment

Relevant Evidence - Body Location
Relevant Evidence Body
3. Conclusion: Summary of the report

Marking Rubric
Task 3: using the
evidence

Above
Standard

At
Standard

Approachi
ng
Standard

Students can contest

the expert theories
using evidence to
justify.

Students demonstrate
an understanding that
the expert opinions
can be valid or not.

Students show an
understanding that
different people see
the events
surrounding Otzis
death in different
ways, for example the
experts all have

Task 2:
developing
interpretations

Students find a
range of evidence to
support their
hypothesis and can
explain why each is
significant.

Students select
certain pieces of
evidence that can
lead to a conclusion
about Otzis death.

Students make
some assumptions
about which pieces
of evidence are
relevant but their
explanations lack
detail

Task 4: creating a
chronology

Students correctly
structure a detailed
timeline with all
events sequenced in
a logical order and
use time references
where possible

Students put the

correct events in
order to show a
timeline of the
events surrounding
Otzis death.

Students attempt to
order most of the
events surrounding
Otzis death in the
right order

Task 5 creating a report

Students create a report
that is detailed and wellstructured and presents
accurate information to
support their hypothesis
The writing has a clear
focus which is supported
consistently with wellchosen facts, examples
and/or evidence.
Students create a report
that is structured with an
introduction, body and
conclusion and present
information in correct
sections to explain how
and why Otzi died. The
writing is relevant to the
task and uses a range of
information from sources
and theories.
Students use headings
and include some
relevant information in an
attempt to explain how
and why Otzi died. The
writing is relevant to the
topic and/or question but
lacks depth, detail and

Students can accurately

relate their conclusions to
specific sources, students
consistently use
vocabulary relevant to
the inquiry such as
hypothesis, evidence,
sources, significance,
contestability,
Students draw
conclusions and can
explain which source
most of the information
came from. They use
vocabulary relevant to
the inquiry such as
hypothesis, evidence,
sources, significance.
Students do not support
their conclusions and
theories by referencing
specific sources and the
wording used throughout
their report does not
always reflect an
understanding of

Achievem
ent
Standard

different opinions.
They identify past
events and
developments that
have been interpreted
in different ways.

They identify and

select a range of
sources and locate,
compare and use
information to
answer inquiry
questions. They
examine sources to
explain points of
view.

Students sequence
events and
developments within
a chronological
framework, using
dating conventions
to represent and
measure time.

relevant facts.
Students develop texts,
particularly descriptions
and explanations.

historical terms
In developing these texts
and organising and
presenting their findings,
they use historical terms
and concepts, incorporate
relevant sources, and
acknowledge their
sources of information.

Teacher Comments: