Scientists Find Iceman’s Blood

Scientists said on Wednesday that they had found red blood cells around the wounds of Oetzi, a 5,300-year-old body found in the Italian Alps in 1991. Blood cells tend to degrade quickly—and initial searches had come up empty—but a new study has been able to find the blood that Oetzi shed before dying—the oldest blood cells ever recorded. Since Oetzi’s body was discovered more than 20 years ago, scientists have been able to discover important details about health and nutrition of the time period—and also Oetzi's last meal and the cause of death: an arrow in his back. This may be one of the world’s oldest murder mysteries.