Radiocarbon ages of the Iceman—Reopening a jar with the frozen tissue stored at the ETH laboratory

Abstract We report the results of radiocarbon dating performed at the ETH laboratory on soft tissue of the mummified body found in September 1991 on the Hauslabjoch in the Ötztaler Alps (near the Similaun Mountain), South Tyrol. Over the past three decades, additional analyses of the sample, which had been stored frozen in a glass jar, have improved the precision of the first published radiocarbon ages. The frozen jar and the story of a mummified body found in the Alps fascinated visitors to the laboratory, mostly primary and high-school students. As part of educational projects, 11 samples were prepared and analyzed, yielding a combined radiocarbon age of 4525 ± 7 BP. This agreement with 4550 ± 27 BP, i.e., the very first results by Bonani et al. (1994), highlights the quality of the analysis performed decades ago. The combined age of all the 14 C ages measured at the ETH laboratory is 4527 ± 7 BP.