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From: Bonnie Schrack <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] Alpine ice man's Axe
Date: Sat, 04 Feb 2006 19:35:06 -0500


The book, Iceman, by Brenda Fowler, 2001, U. Chicago Press, has pages
and pages of detailed discussion of the Iceman's copper axe, and its
relation to the cultures he might have belonged to. Yes, it was fairly
soft, but it was made with advanced technology for its time. It was not
just pounded or annealed from a lump of copper, but smelted and cast,
then hammered. Some archaeologists believe it could have had a greater
symbolic prestige value than functionality, but this isn't certain. The
long-handled axe is ubiquitous in stone carvings that come from
approximately the time and local region he came from.

I highly recommend this book for those interested in the Iceman and
prehistory, though a lot of it is taken up with accounts of the
infighting among different groups of academics and others who have been
involved with the Iceman since his discovery.

Bonnie

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