27 The Mysterious Iceman

Put yourself in these tourists' position. You are walking an icy mountain path in the Alps in Europe. Suddenly you spot a body on the ground, face downward and stuck to the ice. You think someone may have been murdered or in a fatal accident. So you rush back and call the police. The police, however, quickly realize that this body is undamaged. For others, they’ve found on the mountain, it is mostly knife with a small stone blade.

The body turned out to be much older than the tourists could have guessed. When specialists had a chance to examine it, they discovered it had been there for about five thousand years!

How could a body be preserved for all this time? Two things probably helped. First, the place where the man died was somewhat sheltered, so animals couldn’t get at it. Then he was quickly covered by falling snow. Wind blown through the snow probably “freeze-dried” his body, removing all moisture from it.

Objects found with the body told something about the Iceman’s life. He wore a well-made fur jacket and pants. He clearly had been hunting, for he carried arrows and animal bones were nearby. He also had a braided grass mat for sitting or sleeping on. Perhaps he was exhausted when he lay down for the last time.

The body was found in 1991, when some of the ice on the mountain melted. Searching for the cause of the Iceman’s death, scientists put the body back into cold conditions—and hoped.

把自己放在这些游客的处境中。你正在欧洲阿尔卑斯山的一条结冰的山路上行走。突然，你发现地面上有一具尸体，脸朝下，冻在冰里。你认为有人可能被谋杀了，或者遭遇了致命的事故。于是你跑回去报警。然而，警方很快意识到这具尸体没有受损。至于他们在山上发现的其他尸体，大多是带有小石刃的刀伤。

这具尸体比游客们想象的要古老得多。当专家们有机会对其进行检查时，他们发现它已经在那里存在了大约五千年！

一具尸体怎么能保存这么长时间呢？可能有两个因素起了作用。首先，这个人死亡的地方比较隐蔽，所以动物无法靠近。然后他很快被飘落的雪覆盖。风吹过雪地，可能使他的身体“冻干”，去除了体内的所有水分。

随尸体发现的物品揭示了冰人的一些生活情况。他穿着一件做工精良的毛皮夹克和裤子。他显然一直在打猎，因为他带着箭，附近还有动物的骨头。他还有一个编织的草垫，用来坐或睡。也许他最后一次躺下时已经筋疲力尽了。

这具尸体是在1991年被发现的，当时山上的部分冰雪融化了。为了探究冰人的死因，科学家们将尸体放回寒冷的环境中——并抱有希望。