Creative discovery museum 2 yr old11/13/2023 ![]() Read how researchers reconstructed Ötzi’s frantic, final mountain climb. “We could prove he had brown eyes and dark brown hair, and he had a typical Mediterranean skin tone,” says Albert Zink, head of the EURAC Institute of Mummy Studies in Bolzano, which has done much of the core research on Ötzi. His eyes-still preserved in their sockets-were long thought to be blue, but genomic analysis has revealed otherwise. Ötzi was wiry, short (5’2”), and about 46 years old when he died. Here’s what three decades of research have revealed about the life and death of the Iceman-and what the future study of his extraordinary remains may reveal. “Ötzi is, in my eyes, the best investigated human body the whole world has ever seen,” says Oliver Peschel, the Munich-based forensic pathologist in charge of Ötzi’s conservation. Ötzi is equally in demand by scientists, who jump at the rare opportunity to study the incredibly well-preserved remains of a man who lived long before the rise of Europe’s earliest cities, and even before Egypt’s first pyramid was built. In an average year, about 300,000 visitors travel to Bolzano to marvel at the ancient Iceman through a thick glass window that affords a view into his frosty chamber. ![]() Go behind the scenes of Ötzi’s 2010 autopsy. Four or five times a year, his remains are sprayed with sterile water to create an icy, protective exoskeleton that ensures he stays a “ wet mummy” (one naturally preserved in a wet rather than dry environment). Today, Ötzi is carefully tended to by researchers at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy, where his wizened body is kept in a custom cold chamber maintained at a constant temperature of –21.2 degrees Fahrenheit. ![]() Naturally preserved by more than 5,000 years of sun, wind, and freezing temperatures, the leathery remains of Ötzi the Iceman quickly became a global sensation, the subject of countless books and documentaries and even a feature film reconstructing his life in Neolithic Europe and his violent death. Be aware that if you have already visited the TN Aquarium, you can get a discount if you show your ticket stub ($2 per person) when buying tickets.Just a little more than three decades ago, Europe’s most famous mummy was discovered lying face-down in the ice, on the edge of a lake nearly two miles high in the Ötztal Alps bordering Austria and Italy. The rain also kept us from being able to use the rooftop playground, which I think both kids would have probably enjoyed. I also have to say that we might have enjoyed the museum enough to give it five stars if we had visited at a different time - but unfortunately, we visited during a period of rain, on a Saturday, on a holiday weekend. He had a good time doing that, and it kept him occupied while his brother used some of the exhibits that weren't of as much interest to older kids. They have a table with motorized K'nex building sets and instructions (I believe there were two), and my son built the moving Ferris Wheel. There was one area that he really enjoyed though, which was the K'nex building area. Our 9 year old didn't have nearly as much fun, so I would say this museum is best suited for children younger than 9. ![]() He also loved the area in the back where you could send "secret" messages via a pneumatic tube (like you use at the bank drive-thru). The younger child ended up having a blast! In fact, he loved the jungle gym and water play area near the entrance so much that we had a hard time getting him to move on and explore the rest of the museum. We visited this museum with a child who had just turned 7 and a 9 year old. ![]()
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