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After reading the article, I was curious about all the objects they mentioned he had carried. This site has descriptions and pictures of each: http://www.iceman.it/en/equipment/ Very interesting.
I can't help but also mentioning that I'm not a big fan of the scroll-jacking script on the site, but I guess some designers have an affinity for it.
I wonder if Otzi was the instigator in the described conflict. The piece describes him as someone who was not a laborer but did plenty of walking. I can imagine a vagabond type individual traveling place to place taking his pickings from the weaker groups (or perhaps stealing and stabbing in the process seeing how he had little upper body strength but carried a dagger). His clothing is made of multiple furs of multip…
My theory is that he was an senior elder of his tribe who was either challenged or challenged the leader. (evidence: the expensive furs) He lost (contrary to the article), was expelled and was followed by some younger member or members and killed to make sure he didn't come back. (evidence - no good bow and only some headed arrows) His belongings were left either out of respect or that the killers didn't want it know…
I don't know what him crafting a bow means either. It surely means he didn't have one at the time and was making a new one. He could have broke the last one, traded it, lost it, had it stolen, etc.
Every time I read stories like this, I still am amazed at modern science. A man is killed thousands of years ago, but we can still deduce with fairly reasonable certainty the circumstances of his death, and all sorts of facts about him. Fascinating!
(But yes, the possibilities of modern science are amazing)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Doesn't explain why Otzi's valuable possessions weren't taken by the avenger. The artifacts were likely left behind because Otzi had ties to the village. Taking those possessions would have tied the avenger to his actions, likely putting the avenger at risk all over again.
Could be difference between owning your dead fathers axe and owning the axe that a vagabond used to kill people in the village.
If this fascinates you I recommend you read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Better_Angels_of_Our_Natur... . It's a book that talks about violence in history. Ötzi is mentioned and so are a few others.
" "Pinker doesn’t have a clear idea of the difference between science and journalism, or the one between rigorous empiricism and anecdotal statements. Science is not about making claims about a sample, but using a sample to make general claims and discuss properties that apply outside the sample. "
Further here: https://medium.com/incerto/the-intellectual-yet-idiot-13211e...
Since at least a bit of that seemed like a personal attack on Pinker, that was then followed by personal attacks on Taleb by Pinker. He even wrote a quora post on it describing it as "The paper by Taleb that I saw was a mess: sloppy, inaccurate, and incoherent."
https://www.quora.com/Is-Nassim-Talebs-criticism-of-Steven-P...
I think our recent history with Trump, and the increasing friction with China suggest that perhaps the celebration of Pinker's ideas was a bit premature. As Taleb has shown us, a long period of peace doesn't mean that violence is declining or that we can presume that it will never reoccur with the magnitude and intensity we saw during earlier periods.
http://www.writeups.org/wp-content/uploads/Abraham-Whistler-...
I wonder if this is an indication that modern people from Scandinavia, where half of Kristofferson's ancestors are from, are more similar to older European populations, while the European South and Centre saw more change through migrations.
I wonder if Otzi was the instigator in the described conflict. The piece describes him as someone who was not a laborer but did plenty of walking. I can imagine a vagabond type individual traveling place to place taking his pickings from the weaker groups (or perhaps stealing and stabbing in the process seeing how he had little upper body strength but carried a dagger). His clothing is made of multiple furs of multip…
>(or perhaps stealing and stabbing in the process seeing how he had little upper body strength but carried a dagger). I have a lot of doubts about estimating upper body strength from his remainins. You can tell if he was a body builder (or not) yes, but you can have two people with similar muscle mass, but two to nervous system adaptations one might bench 50% more than the other (this is why when you start strength t…
Otzi looks remarkably similar to Kris Kristofferson http://www.writeups.org/wp-content/uploads/Abraham-Whistler-... I wonder if this is an indication that modern people from Scandinavia, where half of Kristofferson's ancestors are from, are more similar to older European populations, while the European South and Centre saw more change through migrations.
So we don't really know what he looked like. It's just the best guess we are likely to get.
I wonder if Otzi was the instigator in the described conflict. The piece describes him as someone who was not a laborer but did plenty of walking. I can imagine a vagabond type individual traveling place to place taking his pickings from the weaker groups (or perhaps stealing and stabbing in the process seeing how he had little upper body strength but carried a dagger). His clothing is made of multiple furs of multip…
I love all the speculation in this thread so I thought I'd just chime in and say blood from four different people has reportedly been found on his weapons. I believe both axe and arrow heads. This was on HN a few weeks back but I couldn't find that particular article, instead I found one on NatGeo[1] from 2003 saying the same thing. 1. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/10/1030_031030_...
This article doesn't mention it, but he was also carrying a birch polypore, which is a styptic.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>(or perhaps stealing and stabbing in the process seeing how he had little upper body strength but carried a dagger). I have a lot of doubts about estimating upper body strength from his remainins. You can tell if he was a body builder (or not) yes, but you can have two people with similar muscle mass, but two to nervous system adaptations one might bench 50% more than the other (this is why when you start strength t…
Those concerns would be somewhat mitigated because they were able to compare his upper-body to his own lower-body.
