The Man in the Ice: The Discovery of a 5,000-Year-Old Body Reveals the Secrets of the Stone Age (Hardcover) [Hardcover]

Konrad Spindler (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 305 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday of Canada; First American Edition edition (1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385254628
• ISBN-13: 978-0385254625
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,192,293 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating details from a serious archaeologist, November 7, 2003

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Man in the Ice: The Discovery of a 5,000-Year-Old Body Reveals the Secrets of the Stone Age (Paperback)

In 1991 the Alpine glacier ice had already given up five bodies before a sixth was discovered by passing hikers. The previous five had been in the ice from 10 to 57 years. The sixth had been held suspended in the very spot where he died, for 5,000 years.

The excitement of this momentous discovery quickly degenerated into farce as nations began squabbling over jurisdiction. Was the man found in Italian or Austrian territory? Konrad Spindler, the first archaeologist to examine the body and intimately involved in its study ever since, reports this bureaucratic wrangling as scrupulously as he does every other detail of the find in this thorough and absorbing book.

He begins at the beginning, with the hikers who spotted the emerging head and shoulders and goes on to mention every other person who arrived at the site, tourists as well as officials and recovery experts. Although this at first seems puzzlingly excessive, it's important.

Recovery, made difficult by the weather and the reluctance of the glacier, was suspenseful, interrupted, and involved a certain amount of hacking and other disturbance. But the glacier preserved the iceman (and yes, Spindler explains exactly how) so perfectly that tourist photos and recollections of the scene are important to reconstructing his final hours. The picture that emerges is so clear and intriguing, it's amazing that -in fiction - so far only a children's novel has been inspired.

The iceman was clearly a mountaineer accustomed to spending prolonged periods far from home (his carefully sewn garments were crudely mended and his teeth were worn from a steady diet of dried meat). Spindler describes his clothing - from water-shedding grass cloak to leather loin cloth and grass-stuffed shoes - in every detail, from the first steps of construction through each sign of wear, explaining why pelts would be cut just so and how sinews are dried and frayed for superior thread.

Among the man's possessions were a birch bark container that once held a live ember for the man's camp fire. Modern science could detect traces of previous embers, indicating, through the wood used, the various terrains the man had crossed. Also found were fire making supplies, a belt pouch containing tools, a dagger, a net Spindler speculates was used for snaring birds and, most interesting, an unfinished bow stave, and, in his arrow quiver, two broken arrows and a number of unbroken, unfinished arrows.

From this last, and from the iceman's broken ribs, scientists deduce he had, no more than two months previous to his death, encountered a violent event which probably involved other humans and may have caused him to flee into the mountains at a dangerous time of year, exhaustion and bad weather contributing to his death.

Spindler's final section (save for his disapproving comments on other, more sensational reactions to the find) concerns life in the Neolithic Age and where the iceman fit in. This includes a lot if interesting tidbits, such as the fact, determined from pollen research, that agricultural grazing began on the high slopes rather than the valleys, as well as technical data more detailed than the average reader is looking for.

All in all, a fascinating book, if not scintillating with wit and adventurous suppositions. Spindler will leave that to the fictionalizers.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommend, March 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Man in the Ice: The Discovery of a 5,000-Year-Old Body Reveals the Secrets of the Stone Age (Hardcover)

I was in college when Otzi was found, and I didn't have time to read up on the excavation, so this book was a welcome surprise for me one day when I was browsing the science section of my local bookstore. Sensitive, yet scholarly, Spindler recounts his experience in fascinating detail while preserving the unfortunate man's dignity. Although translated from the original German, Spindler's profound respect and professionalism show through, particularly in his description of the state of the body and of the controversy and rumors surrounding the genitalia. I found the whole book to be well-organized, divided into six sections describing the discovery, the equipment,the clothing, the body, background information on the region and neolithic culture, and "public reactions to the find". I disagree with a previous reviewer's complaint about Spindler's "conjecture"; of course it is, since there are no written records from 5000 years ago. However, all of his speculation about the Iceman's occupation, etc. seems to be soundly based on what we DO know about anthropology, the region's history, flora and fauna, technology of the time, and previous finds from similar cultures. Also, don't let the metric measurements ruin your enjoyment of the book; many rulers now have English and metric measurements on opposite sides, providing for easy comparison. I would ABSOLUTELY recommend this book for anyone interested in learning about the Iceman.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Humorous, fun, interesting read., October 10, 2000

By 

Roger McEvilly (the guilty bystander) (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Man in the Ice: The Discovery of a 5,000-Year-Old Body Reveals the Secrets of the Stone Age (Hardcover)

Konrad Spindler should know what he is talking about. After all, he was in charge of the high-profile, no expense spared, scientific investigation of the fantastically fortuituous find of "the Iceman," found beneath a receeding glacier in the Austrian Alps in 1991.

Imagine you are Konrad Spindler(the author). An accomplished archaeologist, you are settling down to normal duties on an otherwise uneventful morning in a modest academic institution, you receive a call to view an "unusual corpse" found recently in the mountains, and then, after viewing a smorgasboard of 4,000 year old implements on a table in near pristine (for archaeologists) condition, and a full, well-preserved body of a long-dead ancient European, and saying coyley, in front of a few sceptical onlookers, "at least 4,000 years old, maybe older." The media, quite rightly, hit the roof with excitement, as did the university administration, the police, journalists from all over the world, tourists and the like. And, just as amazing as any of the events that transpired, necessary equipment for your department was delivered promptly, security of site and items was attained promptly and without argument, funding for research was granted immediately, and well trained archaeologists, scientists and faithful historians embarked on a well-funded, well-orchestrated, (if not well prepared) investigation into the "man in the ice," and his secrets. The stuff science is made of.

This is that story, faithully told by that archeologist, Konrad Spindler. It is excitingly and humurously written, and thoughtfully analyzed. The iceman had (has!) many secrets to tell, there was indeed many items and implemements that were recovered on his person, or nearby, from a time in European history (pre-Roman, pre-Greek, pre just about everybody), in which we had very little information at all. One item for example, a copper axe, is the only item of its kind from this time which survives to this day. And there are many other implements he was carrying, perhaps undertaking a long journey over the mountains? -- (which you will have to read for yourself).

A fascinating and insightful story of modern science, adventure and archaeology at its best. Described as arguably the archaeological find of the century, a must read for the interested layperson and scientist alike.