Varmuza K.*, Mader R., Werther W.,
Makristathis. A., Schwarzmeier J., Seidler H.
Poster Presentation
CHEMOMETRICS
V Conference,
29 August - 1 September 1999, Brno, Czech Republic
The Tyrolean
Iceman and other Mummies:
Comparison of Tissue Samples by Chemometric
Methods
In September 1991 a well conserved frozen mummy of a Late Neolithic man
has been discovered in a glacial field near the Austrian-Italian border. This
approximately five thousand year old Tyrolean
Iceman (nicknamed Ötzi because
found in the Ötztaler Alps) has been the subject of several studies [1].
The body of Ötzi exhibits a remarkable preservation. Aim of this work
was to characterize tissue samples by the concentrations of fatty acids and to
compare the results with those obtained from other well preserved mummies. Also
data obtained from samples of fresh corpses have been considered.
Tissue samples were
treated by standard procedures to obtain the methyl esters of fatty acids [2].
Quantitative analysis was performed by GC; compounds were identified by GC/MS,
followed by spectral library search. The concentrations of 16 fatty acids have
been used to characterize the samples.
PCA, k-nearest neighbor
classification, and other chemometric methods clearly indicate the different
types of conservation and degradation in the investigated samples from mummies
found in Austrian glaciers, in Peru and Siberia. The Ötzi samples constitute a
separate cluster close to other glacier specimens.
[1] Spindler, K.; Wilfing, H.;
Rastbichler-Zissernig, E.; zur Nedden, D.; Nothdurfter, H. (eds.): Human mummies: a global survey of their
status and the techniques of conservation. Springer, Wien (1996).
[2] Makristathis, A.; Mader,
R.; Varmuza, K.; Simonitsch, I.; Schwarzmeier, J.; Seidler, H.; Platzer, W.;
Unterndorfer, H.; Scheithauer, R.: in [1], p.279 (1996).