Institute for Mummies and the Iceman
The EURAC-Institute for Mummies and the Iceman gathers and coordinates all currently available scientific data on the Iceman and various other mummies.
Founded in 2007, it also supplies new impulses for anthropological, palaeopathological, genetic and medical research. In addition, it promotes innovative techniques for mummy conservation.
The EURAC-Institute for Mummies and the Iceman strongly supports and promotes the use of non-and minimal invasive investigation methods, such as computer tomography, nanotechnology, molecular and biological approaches, as well as ancient DNA research. It collaborates with several renowned universities and museums worldwide.
The creation of a mummy research centre in Bolzano was generally welcomed, in particular by those who were more or less directly involved with studies on the Iceman, not least because the EURAC-Institute for Mummies and the Iceman assures optimal conservation conditions for the mummy.
One of the EURAC-Institute for Mummies and the Iceman's tasks is gathering all available scientific data on the Iceman. This includes archaeological site material, as well as papers, notes, documentation material from research groups from all over the world.
The Iceman was found in 1991 in the Alps and is the oldest wet mummy ever discovered (dated 3.300-3.150 BC). He spent seven years in Innsbruck (A) thereafter, where he was extensively studied at the Research Institute for Alpine Prehistory.Meanwhile, the South Tyrolean Museum of Archaeology was established in Bolzano and a specially designed refrigerating chamber was created in order to preserve this unique mummy. In 1998, once the mummy had been moved to Bolzano, the Research Institute for Alpine Prehistory in Innsbruck was closed and all studies concerning the Iceman were carried out at different Universities.
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