Frame backpack
Mochila con armazón de madera y fardel
- Date
- c. 3300 BCE · confidence high
- Place
- Tisenjoch (Ötzi), Ötztal Alps, Italy–Austria border
- Credited to
- Alpine Chalcolithic community (Ötzi)
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A hazel rod bent into a U-shape with larch crossbars and cords, the remains of a frame backpack found with Ötzi, along with his complete kit (copper axe, quiver, first-aid kit, tinder). It allows heavy loads to be carried in the mountains with hands free.
Reconstruction as a backpack is the most widely accepted, but it has been suggested the frame belonged to a snowshoe. Ötzi also preserves grass-lined leather shoes and therapeutic tattoos.
What it led to
- Long-distance mobility for pastoralists, traders and metal prospectors across the Alps
- Standardisation of personal travel gear
- Human load-carrying complementing the donkey and the sledge
Built on
- Cordage (twisted fibre string)c. 50 ka
- Basketryc. 27 ka
- Leather footwear
Made possible
- Modern frame backpack
- Mountaineering equipment