About
The oldest natural human mummy in Europe.
Three basic conditions can lead to natural mummification: extreme dryness or aridity (as in deserts), extreme acidity (as in bogs), and extreme cold (as on mountains) which essentially freeze-dries the body. In all cases, it is the harsh conditions that halt bacterial destruction of the corpse and lead to natural mummification. This is most famously exemplified by the “freeze-dried” mummies of Ötzi the Iceman found in the Ötztal Alps by Helmut Simon in 1991.
