Ötzi is the oldest known natural human mummy in Europe. He lived in the Italian Alps around 3300 BC and was discovered by hikers in 1991. He was about 1.59 m tall, around 46 years old and weighed about 50 kg.
Ötzi was well equipped for the mountains: a cape, a vest and special snow shoes lined with soft grass that acted as socks. Alongside an axe, knives, arrows and a bow taller than himself, he carried several types of mushroom.
The mushrooms Ötzi carried
- Birch polypore (Fomitopsis betulina, formerly Piptoporus betulinus) – two pieces threaded on a leather strip. Archaeologists still debate why he carried them.
- Tinder fungus (Fomes fomentarius) – part of a fire-lighting kit together with flint, pyrite and plant material for making sparks.
These finds show that people in Europe were using mushrooms more than 5,000 years ago – a fascinating chapter in the long relationship between humans and fungi, which in Asia is also well documented in the history of Chinese emperors.