Ötzi's copper axe
Hacha de cobre de Ötzi
- Date
- c. 3300 BCE · confidence high
- Place
- Similaun glacier, Ötztal Alps, South Tyrol, Italy
- Credited to
- The Iceman (Ötzi), Remedello culture
- Field
- Tools
What was discovered
An axe with an almost pure copper blade, cast, hammered and sharpened, and a yew haft with a crook that holds the blade with leather and birch tar, found with the body in 1991. It is the only Chalcolithic copper axe preserved complete with its original haft.
Analysis of the metal (Artioli et al. 2016) points to copper from southern Tuscany, proving long-distance trade; the date is that of Ötzi's death, c. 3350-3105 BC.
What it led to
- proof of copper casting in Alpine Italy in the 4th millennium BC
- typology of Chalcolithic flat axes
- isotope studies placing the copper in Tuscany