Researchers have uncovered traces of ancient microbes inside a mummy — unexpected "signs of life" that may have persisted for more than 5,300 years.The study, recently published in the journal Microbiome, centers on Ötzi the Iceman, a mummy found by a tourist inside a glacier in the Alps in 1991, news agency SWNS reported.Ötzi's remains date back to 3300 B.C., before Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids were built.He was between 25 and 35 years old when he died, and stood roughly 5 feet 2 inches tall.ANCIENT PALACE DISCOVERY CHALLENGES THE MYTH BEHIND SPARTA'S RISE TO POWERResearchers originally believed he succumbed to exposure or exhaustion while crossing the Alps, though later examinations found that an arrowhead was lodged in his left shoulder — suggesting he likely bled to death.Experts at Eurac Research found that Ötzi's remains still contain a complex community of ancient and modern microorganisms — offering a rare glimpse into the microbial past of early humans.Researchers studying Ötzi the Iceman, reconstruction seen left, found traces of ancient and modern microorganisms preserved within the 5,300-year-old mummy.
(Andrea Solero/AFP via Getty Images; Eurac Research via SWNS)While studying the mummy at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy, researchers found cold-adapted yeasts and genetic traces of bacteria from Ötzi's ancient gut microbiome.They also differentiated between microorganisms that were present during Ötzi's lifetime and those that colonized his body after his death, using tissue samples, swabs and genetic analysis.COULD NOAH'S ARK REMAINS BE BURIED IN TURKEY? NEW FINDINGS REVIVE AGE-OLD DEBATEThe team analyzed ice from the surface of Ötzi’s body, as well as meltwater inside the mummy.Researchers also drew on intestinal tissue and stomach-content data from previous studies.A surprising discovery was the presence of cold-adapted yeast species, likely originating from the glacial environment, which have persisted...