The Iceman and his Natural Environment: Palaeobotanical Results (The Man in the Ice Book 4)

Before the discovery of the "Man in the Ice" in temporal context. On the other hand the reconstruc­ tion of the Iceman's life-style as derived from data September 1991, little was known about the Neolithic obtained from the site has to be correlated with inde­ period in the Central Alps. Suddenly and without precedent, here was the very well preserved corpse of pendent data sets. For that purpose pollen analysis was a man who had lived more than 5,000 years ago with his performed on peat-bogs in the vicinity of the find and clothing and equipment almost intact. The discovery further afield to obtain precise data on the vegetation was not just deservedly a world-wide sensation but a cover and climate in the Neolithic. Pollen analysis was unique opportunity for the scientific community to in­ performed for a vertical transect extending from the vestigate the life and death of a human from such very timber line almost up to the nival zone. The results of ancient times. It opened up wholly new horizons in the analyses reveal changes to the vegetation patterns prehistoric research, and with the help of a full range caused by pastoral farming long before the time of the of modern research techniques an attempt was made Iceman. Front Matter....Pages I-X Radiocarbon dating of equipment from the Iceman....Pages 1-9 The Iceman’s environment....Pages 11-24 The amount of CO 2 in the air breathed by the Iceman....Pages 25-27 Dendrological analyses of artefacts and other remains....Pages 29-61 The bow of the Tyrolean Iceman: A dendrological investigation by computed tomography....Pages 63-67 Analysis of the bast used by the Iceman as binding material....Pages 69-76 Bryology and the Iceman: Chorology, Ecology and Ethnobotany of the Mosses Neckera complanata Hedw. and N. crispa Hedw.....Pages 77-87 The diet of the Iceman....Pages 89-115 Diatoms from the colon of the Iceman....Pages 117-125 Parasitological examination of the Iceman....Pages 127-136 Vivianite from the Iceman of the Tisenjoch (Tyrol, Austria): Mineralogical-chemical data....Pages 137-141 Ethnomycological remarks on the Iceman’s fungi....Pages 143-150 Contribution to insect remains from the accompanying equipment of the Iceman....Pages 151-155 Compilation of DNA sequences from the Iceman’s grass clothing....Pages 157-162 Epilogue: The search for explanations and future developments....Pages 163-166 Back Matter....Pages 167-172 Volume 4 of the series "The Man in the Ice" contains the latest scientific results about the Iceman. By means of different methods - e.g. AMS-radiocarbon dating, bryology, dendrology, etc. - the reader gets information about several aspects of the Iceman's lifestyle and his natural environment. His artefacts give insight into prehistoric craftsmenship. Even the potential location of his settlement is reconstructed by several different approaches. The good preservation of the pollen in his food residue allowed to identify the season when the Iceman died. Detailed pollenanalyses of mire deposits in the alpine region of the Ötztal gave insight into the genesis of the alpine grass heath and early pastoral farming of a time long before the Iceman lived. Radiocarbondating of a piece of wood from the Iceman's finding spot demonstrates the early interest of prehistoric people in these highland zones. But also perspectives of future research activities are given