Belt and its content

The Iceman wore a belt made of calf’s leather. A piece of leather sewn onto the belt formed a bag similar to a modern-day belt-pouch. This is where Ötzi kept his “valuables”: a tool made of very sharp bone, three flint flakes, and tinder fungus to light a fire.

The bone could have been a sewing tool, but the tip is so sharp that some scientists believe that Ötzi also did tattooing with it. The flints could have been used to scrape and cut leather. Flint is a very smooth, sharp-edged stone from which weapons and tools were made in the Stone Age. Striking it against a stone containing iron – iron pyrite for instance – produces sparks that can be used to start a fire.

Ötzi also used flammable tinder fungus, which grew on tree trunks. He kept it in his belt-pouch.