Tattoos

Drawings were soon discovered on Ötzi’s body which looked like burn marks. After thorough research it was determined that they were in fact tattoos. Ötzi’s tattoos aren’t pictures. They’re simply lines – over 50 of them – and scientists wondered what they could mean.

Doctors provided a possible answer: The tattoos could have been made to treat pain and were therefore a type of medicine.

The tattoos were made along Ötzi’s backbone and on his knees and ankles – on the weak points of the body that suffer the most wear and tear. Ötzi’s tattoos were made by rubbing a mixture of powdered charcoal and water into cuts made in his skin.