Archaeologic sensation, media star, research topic, museum object: Ötzi the Iceman, is a glacier mummy from the Copper Age, who, thanks to extraordinary circumstances, has been preserved down to the present day. He was discovered accidentally by hikers in 1991, together with his clothing and equipment, on the Schnalstal/Val Senales valley glacier and has been the subject of intensive research ever since. The name refers to the discovery site in the Ötztal Valley Alps.