It is a wonderful and amazing fact that in an extreme cold the human body can be preserved over 1000’s of years. A great example of this was the Otzi during September 19, 1991 when hikers (German tourist) in the Otztal Alps near the border between Austria and Italy came across the body of a man who turned out to be over 5000 years old. He was preserved in an airtight pocket beneath a huge glacier which ultimately stopped his body from decaying in the normal manner. Not only were many of his organs still intact but he was still wearing a boot stuffed with grass. Bodies caught in glaciers are usually crushed and torn apart so the fact that this body was so well preserved was an amazing feat in itself.

The most common way to preserve a dead body is through embalming process however, cooling the body down will also slow down the process of decomposition and help to preserve the body. the purpose of embalming is to preserve the dead body from natural decomposition and also to restore a natural appearance. If the body isn’t embalmed, immediately upon death various enzymes and bacteria begin to break down the corpse and cause extreme swelling. There is such a found evidence that the body can be preserve, the Otzi. The details is as follows.

The well-preserved body of a 30-to-45-year old man dates back to 3300 BC. The body was examined, measured, x-rayed, and dated. Tissues were examined microscopically, as was the pollen found on his gear. The approx. 160-centimeter-tall body had numerous tattoos. His clothes, including a woven grass cloak and leather vest and shoes, were quite sophisticated - the shoes were waterproof and wide, seemingly designed for walking across the snow. They were constructed using bearskin for the soles, deer hide for top panels, and a netting made of tree bark. Soft grass went around the foot and in the shoe and functioned like warm socks. The Iceman’s equipment was incomplete or faulty. It is argued that he may have been a hunter or a shepherd, but others have put forth the theory that he was a chieftain, and his death was a ritual murder. A CAT scan revealed that Ötzi had what appeared to be an arrowhead lodged in one shoulder when he died. This, combined with the evidence that he appeared to have died alone in the Alps in winter, suggested that he was fleeing from attackers. Later discoveries have suggested that he may have died in the spring. The ritual murder theory argues that, rather than fleeing attackers, he was killed to propitiate a god or gods, or that he was a chieftain and therefore ritually killed to ensure fertility. Among Ötzi’s possessions were two species of polypore mushrooms. One of these (the birch fungus) is known to have antibacterial properties, and was likely used for medical purposes. The other was a type of tinder fungus, included with part of what appeared to be a complex fire starting kit. The kit featured pieces of over a dozen different plants, in addition to flint and pyrite for creating sparks.