2015 Rae Dorough Speaker Series at Bankhead: Forensic Archaeologist Brings Mummy to Life

Information submitted by Lawrence Livermore National Security:

In a presentation entitled “Getting to Know the Iceman: New Science on an Old Mummy,” archaeologist Patrick Hunt will discuss what he has learned about the life and times of “Ötzi,” the 5,000 year old “Iceman” found frozen in the Alps in 1991.

The talk, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29, is the third in this season’s Rae Dorough Speaker Series at the Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St., Livermore. The speaker is sponsored in part by Lawrence Livermore National Security.

Hunt was director of the Stanford Alpine Archaeology Project from 1994–2012 and has been carrying out pioneering forensic archaeological research on the exceptionally well-preserved mummy, found in a glacier in the Alps along the Austrian-Italian border. Using slides, Hunt will talk about his forensic detective work on “Ötzi,” the mummy of the man who lived about 3,300 BC.

Very few well-preserved human bodies from prehistoric times have ever been discovered. Ötzi’s frozen corpse – his clothing, weapons, stomach contents, skeletal condition – has led to fresh information on life in Neolithic Europe. The frozen remains were discovered by German hikers in the Ötztal Alps, hence the name “Ötzi.”

Tickets are available at the box office and online at www.bankheadtheater.org

Photo via Shutterstock