National Geographic: Ancient Graves: Voices of the Dead Page #4

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shriveled but virtually intact.

Teeth show heavy wear.

Simple blue tattoos

adorn his lower back and legs.

Seventy objects were found

near his body.

A quiver of animal skin

containing fourteen arrows.

A leather waist pouch,

not unlike a "fanny pack."

Bits of leather and grass rope.

A flint dagger.

Most telling, an axe

with an exquisite copper blade.

To archeologists,

the design of the blade

suggests its owner

may have died 4,000 years ago.

It was not the final word.

Skin, bone and grass samples

are sent to four eminent European

laboratories for radiocarbon dating.

All four conclude the Iceman

died about 5,300 years ago-

which makes him the oldest

frozen mummy ever found.

Almost immediately, word gets out.

The University of Innsbruck is overrun,

and a humble man from the Copper Age

becomes an overnight sensation.

Few archeological discoveries have

so completely dominated the headlines.

Nicknamed after the Otztal Alps,

"Otzi" provides endless inspiration

to local entrepreneurs.

Who was he? How did he die?

We may never know.

But his body and artifacts

have begun to yield glimpses

of a lifestyle practiced

more than 5,000 years ago.

X-rays speak of lifelong

physical stress:

broken ribs, heavily worn joints,

arthritis.

In his left foot

With an endoscope,

scientists remove a sample

from the Iceman's stomach

and found remnants of meat and grain-

his last meal.

His lungs made a startling sight,

blackened

by hours spent near open fires,

in close, smoky quarters.

Clinging to tatters of

the Iceman's fur clothing,

grains of primitive wheat suggest

he had passed through a farming

community near harvest time.

Found frozen in the snow

near his body,

a sloe berry also helped pinpoint

the season of his death:

the fruit ripens in early autumn.

At the discovery site, now determined

to be inside the Italian border,

researchers sifted through

six hundred tons of snow.

After days of melting and filtering,

they recovered part

of a plaited grass cloak.

Another fragment,

the upper edge of the cloak,

held hairs that fell from

the Iceman's head after death.

Chemical analysis would show the hair

was heavily coated with copper particles

the kind that are airborne

near the smelting of copper ore.

Not an unusual finding-

if the Iceman was a coppersmith,

or an assistant to one.

Finally, every last inch

of the Iceman's body

became digital information,

in a three? dimensional CAT scan.

This "virtual Iceman"

allows for unlimited study

without risking the fragile,

frozen remains.

It also provides a ghostly

foundation for a skilled artist,

as he resurrects a traveler

from a distant time.

Something drives him

to the heights-trade or duty.

He may be a renegade on the run.

He knows the mountains well,

but fails to heed the warning signs.

Perhaps he has no choice

but to press on.

He climbs higher than the trees,

beyond hope of any kindling to build

a fire against the terrible cold.

In the lee of a rocky ridge,

he'll lay down his belongings

and wait out the night.

He knows that with sleep

comes certain death.

But his senses are already numbed.

His lonely death deprived him

of funeral rites by his people.

But this everyday man,

frozen in time on his way somewhere,

has helped write a new chapter

on daily life in prehistoric Europe.

In southwest England,

Somerset is a region of limestone

cliffs and deep gorges.

Home to some 3,000 people,

the town of Cheddar is known

not just for its namesake cheese,

but for a series of spectacular caves

sculpted by an underground river.

Some 9,000 years ago,

Ice Age hunters camped here,

and left one of their dead

in the damp darkness.

Today a replica of "Cheddar Man"

marks the spot.

He lived before the age of farming,

when bears and wolves roamed the land.

The oldest complete skeleton

found in England,

it seems Cheddar Man died of

head injuries around age 40.

In 1996, a fragment

from his tooth was analyzed

by scientists at Oxford University.

The ancient bone

yielded traces of DNA.

A tiny fraction of Cheddar Man's

genetic fingerprint was revealed.

A local television producer

decided to test whether

any of Cheddar Man's descendants

were still living in the area today.

The high school became involved

in his experiment.

Students from local families

were asked to donate DNA samples.

Why are those two unpopular

and who are they unpopular with?

History teacher Adrian Targett,

himself a native of

the Somerset region,

helped coordinate the volunteers.

A simple cheek swab was all it took

to collect the necessary cells

for DNA analysis.

To make up an even twenty,

Targett donated a sample, too.

At Oxford University,

the DNA was parsed and sorted.

Within weeks, results were in.

"On the basis of what we've got here,

that would be an identical match

which would mean that they had

a common maternal ancestor.

So, who do we match this up with?

Let's see..."

"Number 12."

"Number 12, so who's number 12?"

On a Friday afternoon, the volunteers

were assembled to hear the news.

"You're all agog, no doubt,

to know who it is?

Who is related to the cave man

found in Cheddar? Yes?

What would it feel like

if it was one of you?

Because it's probably going to be

of interest to people

all over the world that there is

a link, over 9,000 years,

to this person found in the cave.

Think you could stand the publicity

and visits to California and wherever?

Yes? So, who is it?

It's Adrian Targett!"

"Thank you very much!"

"This is the man that's

closest related to Cheddar Man."

"I'm overwhelmed!"

"How do you feel about that?"

"A bit surprised! I was just about,

about to say, 'I hope it's not me!"'

"Adrian, what was your instant

reaction when you were told that

you had this amazing line

back 9,000 years to a caveman?"

"Well, it was a great shock,

but then I realized

that was why I had been put in next to

the person who was doing the filming."

The study of "dead DNA"?

is becoming a powerful tool

for unraveling relationships

long buried in the past.

It can help illuminate patterns of

gene flow between ancient populations,

or family ties among rulers

in a bygone dynasty.

DNA gave this man the oldest

documented pedigree in the world.

But there's more to it

for Adrian Targett.

It's essentially about our roots

and connections and families,

and I think, at heart, most people

want to know more about themselves,

where they come from, and of course

this story does just that."

The goal of archeology is

to understand our past.

Much of what we know about

long vanished peoples

comes from the excavation

of their graves.

This work has shed light

on the very roots of humanity.

But it has also disturbed

the sacred sites of earlier cultures.

In recent years, the collecting

and handling of human remains

have become more controversial,

as native peoples around the world

demand a new respect

for their ancestors.

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