Scientists found microbes on Etsy's mummy that survived thousands of years

It turns out that Etsy is not just an ancient body in a refrigerated chamber. His mummy stores an entire microbial ecosystem: some microorganisms are associated with his intestines during his lifetime, some got on the body after his death in a glacier, and some may have appeared already during museum storage.

The study is published in the journal Microbiome.

Details

Etsy was found in 1991 in the Alps. It is now stored in the South Tyrolean Archaeological Museum in Bolzano. Conditions there are deliberately kept glacial-like: around -6 °C and almost 100 per cent humidity.

In the new study, the scientists analysed different samples: skin, fabrics, the water that formed during defrosting, soil from the find site and even the air from the storage chamber. The rare opportunity to take such samples came in 2019, when the mummy was thawed for several hours for scientific and conservation work.

Inside the body, researchers found traces of the ancient gut microbiome. In simple words, these are the bacteria that lived in Etsy's digestive system during his lifetime. Such data help to understand what could be the intestines of a man of the Copper Age - before modern food, antibiotics, industrial lifestyle and strong processing of products.

Separately, scientists were surprised by cold-loving yeasts. These are microscopic fungi that are well adapted to life at low temperatures. Similar microorganisms were found in very cold regions, including Antarctica and the Arctic.

Such yeasts could have travelled to Etsy's body from glacial environments well after his death. But the important thing is that some of them don't just seem to have remained as ancient traces. Their DNA was not as badly degraded as expected, and some of the samples were able to be cultured, that is, grown in the lab. This suggests that microbial life on the mummies may have persisted or been periodically activated even after thousands of years.

Scientists emphasise: the mummy is not completely "frozen" object. It remains a complex biological system. It has ancient microbes, glacial microorganisms, and modern microbes that may have been introduced to the body after discovery and during storage.

Why it's important

Etsy is one of the most studied ancient humans in the world. Scientists already knew from his body what he ate, what he was sick with, what he looked like and how he might have died. Now the microbiome adds another layer: it shows not only the life of the man himself, but also what happened to his body after death.

This is important for the science of ancient humans. Microbes can tell us how human gut flora changed over thousands of years. Modern humans, especially in industrialised societies, have a different microbiome: it is influenced by diet, medicine, antibiotics, hygiene and lifestyle.

But the discovery is also important for the preservation of the mummy itself. Some microorganisms can destroy proteins, fats and even collagen, an important part of skin and connective tissue. So museum professionals need to keep an eye not only on temperature and humidity, but also on what microbes live on the mummy.

Background

Etsy is often referred to as the Iceman. His body was preserved naturally thanks to the cold, ice and special conditions in the Alps. This is a rare case for archaeologists: soft tissue, clothing, equipment and stomach contents have yielded much more information than ordinary bones.

Research has previously shown that ancient tissues can preserve bacterial DNA. For example, in previous work, scientists have studied the intestinal bacteria Etsy and even an ancient strain of Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium associated with the stomach.

The new study is broader: it looks at the mummy as an entire microbial ecosystem. Some microbes relate to Etsy's life, others to the glacier, still others to museum storage. Together, they show that even a very ancient mummy continues to change on a microscopic level.

Source

Research: Mohamad Sarhan et al, "The Iceman's microbiome: unveiling millennia of microbial diversity and continuity", Microbiome, 2026.