My main interest for history comes from Erich von Däniken of all people. I loved his books and they got me into digging more into Egypt and South Americans, completely ignoring what he said to learn more about what was actually going on.
Living in northern Italy, not far from the museum where Ötzi is, I went to see him a couple times as a kid, both with my family and with friends. I have really fond memories of those trips and getting one of his tattoos has been on my mind for a while. Definitely gonna do it in the near future. He is probably one of the most amazing discoveries ever, he was found with clothes, tools, shoes, an axe, dagger and bow and arrows, we even know what animal's skin his clothes were made of. We know how he died and there are many theories about how he lived. Not to mention the incredible amount of work scientists and archeologists continue to put in in order to keep him from wasting away. I remember, even as kids, we never saw him as macabre entertainment but rather as a really old person to pay respect to, mostly because in the museum you can see all his possessions and the possible lives he may have lived. You get out the door feeling the same sensation as if you had heard an elderly relative's story, as if you had actually gotten the chance to meet him
Watch out that first reply is a bot!! Love how you see him as a person more so then just some object. The world needs more people to see like you! Thank you ❤
Thank you for sharing that! It seems a lot more . . . respectful(?) maybe _humanizing_ is a better word . . . than I would have expected if I'd thought about it. So many exhibits feel more like their purpose is to separate people from their money, rather than to teach or honor the _people_ who _were_ our history. It makes me hopeful that maybe we can learn from our past behavior. 💙
@@Victoria-mg5btI wonder if he would be. He would have never met anyone as famous as he is now. He may never have thought of the idea of being known by so many people. He may never have thought of so many people existing. I would really love to know if he would have liked being famous.
I would be much more interested in a "here is what we don't know for sure but are still debating/wondering".... Like you said, it can easily be googled what the consensus is. It would be interesting to see how arguments and facts are weighed. Viewing from consensus it always seems much easier, but from within the debate you have to give more room for counter arguments. That would also fit in with his anti-pseudoscience videos, as it shows there's a good reason for both concensus and debate.
Imagine if Otzi was able to see us and he saw a person literally *5700 years* after your death honoring you by getting your tattoos on them. That'd be a wild moment.
@@biggs7109 look's like a body count to me too. which would make him a badass pro killer. and then you go ahead and get his tattoos, without putting in the work to earn them?
I wrote about Ötzi's tattoos once for a paper in a university art class, and it always stuck with me that the tattoos were potentially used in a medical fashion. It's insane that his body is so well preserved that we're able to tell "oh his bones were ouchy right here where this tattoo is" and "he had pneumonia which explains the chest tattoo." It's bonkers! I would love to hear you go more into the potential meanings of the tattoos in your Ötzi miniseries
Yeah I wondered about this watching the video because they seem to be in pretty random places, not like obvious "ooo look at my sweet tats" kinda places but instead more like acupuncture points targeting specific zones. (I know nothing about acupuncture btw, it just made me think of it."
MASSIVE respect for not only getting 61 tattoos as your first tattoo experience, but also for getting them the same way Ötzi would have gotten his. I think if you both ever met he’d be very proud. 💜💜💜
What Milo said at the end there about tattooing with a sharp rock and charcoal reminded me of something not at all related, but which y'all might find somewhat interesting. My great-granddad was a coal miner and his back was covered in spidery black lines that were basically tattoos, that he got from getting scratched on the back when crawling through low mine levels and then of course coal dust would get into the scratches.
I do find that interesting, thank you. Sorta reminiscent to when I worked in a steel fab shop and we would breathe in the black dust from cutting metal and it would give all of us big hard black boogers and stain our noses black lol It sucked, it was all you could smell for hours after work
That’s soo cool. I actually had a similar idea. Back some years ago I found out about the ‘siberian ice maiden’ discovery. Of a Scythian woman that lived in the 5th century bc in the Altai mountains in Siberia. She had her left arm full of tattoos. And on her left shoulder she had a tattoo of some kind of deer, or some deer like creature. I remember I was struck by the detail, complexity, and beauty of the tattoo; all within the fact that it was done 2400 years ago. So then I decided that I wanted to get it, it was going to be my first tattoo. A couple of months ago I finally got it, and it was super exciting and emotional. Now I carry the tattoo of a woman that lived 2400 years ago, a person just like me, that had dreams and hopes, that laughed and got sad, but inhabited a completely different world and lived a totally different life. What a privilege to be able to honor her and all the people of the past though art
Why did you say this? You didn’t need to say this. But you did… 5700 years later you said this… And it has forever changed the definition of one of the most significant discoveries in human history for me. Why? Why did you do this?
[Otzi, bleeding from a severe thoracic wound, lying at the bottom of a hidden crevasse]: "Looks like this is how I go out...but at least they're not getting my *sick copper axe*!" [dabs] [dies]
I work in the tattoo industry, I am heavily tattooed, and I’m into the history and heritage behind tattooing. I think it’s absolutely rad you got these stick and poke, as it’s the closest modern method to what they would have been doing thousands of years ago while still being safe and sanitary. It shows respect to Otzi, the art form and roots of tattooing. You rock.
Given the shape of tat here I would expect the originals to not be stick and poke but instead a cut and rub where slits are made and Ash or ink of some sort is rubbed into the marks.
Came here to say the same thing- doing it in a traditional method is very cool, and the best way to recreate that kind of thing in a safe way. I have family members with traditional indigenous tattoos done, indeed, in stick and poke.
Lived in French Polynesia in the late 1980s and 1990s and my first three tattoos were traditional Tahitian designs inspired by admiration of traditional culture and by pre-colonial lithographs and ink drawings of Tahitian warriors - the tattoos were done with the traditional tapping method: using a hollowed pig's tooth. Took hours but nowhere near as painful as a tattoo machine and for one of them I drank kava which has a pleasant anaesthetic effect. Polynesian cultures across the Pacific - Hawaiian, Samoan, Tahitian (Maohi) and New Zealand (Maori) - all developed the art of tattooing and share some common spiritual themes and aesthetic styles. Unfortunately the arrival of Christian missionaries led to the destruction and suppression of many of these remarkable indigenous cultures, especially in Tahiti and Hawaii. In Tahiti missionaries destroyed the marae (stone temples), overturned the tribal social order, banned the Tahitian religion and language and forbade the practise of tattooing for over a century. Barbarians.
So. My art history teacher, Pamela Reed who has since passed away had a favorite ideology- it came from Egypt. I think you already know it, as I’ve said her name specifically because of it. “You have two deaths, your physical death, and the last time someone will ever speak your name.” And while you might not know his true name. You are certainly speaking about him. And carrying his tattoos as a sort of living memory is, by and large, as honorable as speaking his real name. So thank you for keeping history alive.
My philosophy is that since we are more our thoughts and memories than our bodies if we are remembered or known about we’re alive in some sense. Our deaths go 1. The severance of our body and memory 2. Usually the decomposition of our body and 3. The last person who knows who are were/are also dies.
I just visited Pompeii and had a similar conversation with my wife, because the area doesn't 'feel' like a place of great tragedy. But surely the victims of Pompeii have had the longest lives of almost anyone.
This video is a little old, so more recently weve had scientists recreate Otzi's footwear! They wanted to test it's warmth and funtional capabilities, considering he was found on a snowy mountain with them. They took their recreations on a climb of some kind where one person had them, and the rest of the team had modern gear. The guy who wore the hide shoes said his feet had never felt more comfortable, that they didn't really feel "tired" like we all experience now, and compared to his coleagese he didn't have a single blister while having his feet still be kept perfectly warm!
Fascinating! New isn't always better. That's one lesson we can't seem to learn. I'm not saying that I'd want to walk around wearing half a yak, though! It's just that we have _so much_ to discover; writing off our past as being wholely inferior to the present is short-sighted.
@katie6731 apparently when it comes to shoes weve legit de evolved ruclips.net/video/igYwEFN19og/видео.htmlsi=rZunc_jNhtzrQbC8 ruclips.net/video/8O6Ex4h4Qp4/видео.htmlsi=5zx1o_OgAYp-Rz2h
You could get a tattoo of his “Iconic copper Ax” in the place he was shot if you wanted to do a two for one. Honestly I think the ax looks pretty bad ass and I know there are some great tattoo artists out there that would be able to draw it out and capture the “iconicness” of it
Maybe have the blade stuck into him a little where the arrowhead would have entered. I agree, it would be a shame not to include his simple but cool weapon.
The oldest gods had no names, they wern't even anthropomorphised, they were embodiments of concept, of action. Given form and being only by those with the capacity to perceive them.
My partner is a tattoo artist and shop owner, I have a bunch myself, and we just literally cheered when we saw you were getting them hand poked. Hell fucking yeah
i'm sure other people have said it, but i think the shoulder tat being the dashed-line circle used in autopsy charts would be a really cool nod to the logistical, hard work that goes into studying archeology. i imagine it takes a lot to be able to do that. point is, the pursuit of knowledge just because we're curious is also something that's so distinctly human and beautiful. feels right up your alley! (just in case, sorry if i sound insane, i took an edible and i don't wanna read whatever i just typed lmao)
Imagine what Otzi would think if you told him that in 3700 years somebody would get his tattoos, and he would be known by a huge portion of all humans. I wonder if he would be able to understand the significance of that.
I feel like being well known & appreciated by many people is something universally understood among homo sapiens. What Ötzi would absolutely not understand is the sheer mass of people that exist and know about him. Back in his age, global human population was like 7 Million, now we're way beyond 7 billion. He probably didn't see more than a few hundred people throughout his lifetime. Modern humans can hardly imagine what a million people look like - to ötzi, telling him he's known by billions would be incomprehensible.
Anything from: "That's nice, lots of our group has them too. But since you're here can you help me track this game I'm after?" through "You must have the same pains as me, to have had those done." to "You what? Those were curse markings put on me against my will! They mark me as pariah!" And stopping at the unserious because of the timeframe you mention: "There's an arrow in my side and I'm dying in a snow drift, what do I care?"
@@Gruwg2024 Otzi? I think at least half of all English speakers have probably at least heard the story. I don't know how prevalent it is in other languages, but I'd call hundreds of millions of people a huge group.
@@korstmahler There's a lot of speculation that his tattoos were medicinal in some way, either symbolically or in a process similar to acupuncture. Whether or not that's accurate, Ötzi had most likely a high status in his community, as suggested by him having a very rare and valuable copper hatchet.
My son has also been obsessed with archeology, paleontology and history since he was literally a toddler. He's almost 16 now and still determined to go into one of those fields. He also loves your channel
good luck to him! ive also had an obsession with archeology and history since toddlerhood, didn't help that my grandmother was one of the best history professor's in her city lmao
A little tip for your next tattoo: Take off the second skin under the shower, the heat and moisture help release the adhesive also pull down in the same direction your hair grows to not rip them out. The tats look great btw!
Getting any band-aid type thing off is usually much easier if you get it wet first. Don't know why it took me so long to figure that out when I knew that wet band-aids fall off by themselves.
this is such an incredibly beautiful idea, the thought of two people who lived thousands of years apart forever being bound by their tattoos, the art pressed into their skin, that's just so beautiful to me. Its a true symbol of the human connection. It just the same way we saw the same stars as the first humans did, (for the most part, stars die yknow) we saw the same sun, every laugh every tear someone else has felt. and now you carry the same marks as a man who's been gone for years. Its really pretty to me:)
For your puncture wound tattoo idea, I reckon just a small circle of the area hit would be cool. Since your other tattoos are simple lines, keeping it simple but making it a ring instead could be cool
Floriography nerd here! I think a flower with meaning behind it might be a nice marker for the arrow wound, since significance being tied to flowers goes super far back (although I'm not sure it goes as far back as Otzi's time or was present in his region). Maybe bay leaf for victory and changing in death. Chestnuts have strong symbolism in Italy, near where Otzi was found, although I'm not Italian so I don't know much. Gladiolus means "you pierce my heart", probably meaning something about falling in love, but I think it'd be funny to take that literally given the cause of death. There's really a lot of cool plants to choose from for this stuff!
Phenomenal idea! Flowers have been used in grave rituals for over 60,000 years and were used by neandertals before humans! Needless to say it is a long running tradition.
@@miniminuteman773 depending on how you feel about Norse mythology a Mistletoe may be a good option. Beyond the somewhat minimal phonetic nod, it was the arrow used to kill Hathor. Not Exactly parallel but that death from that arrow led to Ragnerok and the start of a new age. Just as his death from that arrow lead into a new age for you and many like you.
Hearing you call my college years the era of the proto-internet made ME feel like I’m about as old as Otzi. And I’m in the tech industry. Thanks, man…lol. I still love your channel and all your work!
I remember when my dad told me about Ötzi, because we were in the area and then we went into the museum and saw him. that was the first time I realised, that history before the middle ages didn't just happen far away in egypt or something (little me was obsessed with ancient egypt), but also near me. since then I've seen him multiple times and I still lobe history and the Ötzi and now I'm studying archaeology yay
Uhhhhh yes! Little me was also obsessed with ancient Rome, egypt and Greek. But after my dad took me to a museum with a statue of Ötzi, I read everything there was about what we knew about that time and also Germania and stuff
I remember when my father talked to me about Ötzi when I was a child, I've never went to the museum but he said that he was a night guard there for some years so it struck into my mind up to this day
Four hours for that many straight lines of stick and poke tattoos is actually really impressive. That tattoo artist has really good technique to be able to do all that in such a short amount of time. Also, absolutely kudos for getting Otzi's tattoos. He's definitely a very impressive archeological discover to me too.
Sucks to be the other guy if Otzi WAS murdered, no trace of him whatsoever, yet Otzi persevered for thousands of years and will be remembered for thousands more! Poetic justice? And also rad as hell.
well really depends. We'll never know why he was murdered if he was. I do like to think he was being hunted and they killed him for no reason but maybe Otzi was the bad guy in the situation, sad we'll never know.
@@Kiralmao omg he could have slaughtered an innocent village and was hunted down for justice and we're over here like "uwu-tzi my beloved skrunkly moist jerki babboo" 😱
Dude, Milo, I just wanted to say you're the fu**ing man! I love the pursuit of knowledge and good humor, and your channel scratches both those itches. So glad you're blowing up because you deserve it!
Archeologists in the future are gonna be really confused to find Bronze Age tattoos on a Silicon age Italian on Rhode Island surrounded by conspiracy theory books
That is 100% awesome, I was big into acupuncture and acupressure in the late 90s, and I did my senior thesis in Biology on the tattoos of Ötzi the Iceman and how shockingly analogous they were to the meridian theory of Chinese Medicine used in acupuncture and acupressure. If you look into it, the lines and crosses are directly analogous to various meridians and tsubos (pressure points) on them. It was pretty wild how comparable they were. I actually thought about getting those tattoos myself at the time. Also, big props on the tattoo method. Very impressive.
The humanizing factor is a big reason why I got into history. Even something as recent as the Second World War (just an example but this applies to any time period) it can be easy to forget that many of them were just kids in their late teens or twenties. They had dreams and aspirations, and they joked, laughed, and cried just like any like any of us today.
Bravo! One of the reasons I teach is to change the perception of history and balance the trash of the great man historiography by making the past relatable and tangible. Love that Milo takes a similar direction.
This is why I got into history as well. My area of interest is mostly the "barbarian" parts of roman Europe because I think it's so important to remember how human they are and how they would go on to migrate into, and become the ancestors of the nations of Europe today.
I remember hearing about kids back in old Mesopotamia writing notes (on stone or clay idk) in cuneiform about their annoying teacher and from that moment on I just felt so connected to history. We, as the human race, never really change.
look into ancient graffiti! It's so fascinating! There's some Norse runes really high up in a cave somewhere and researchers thought it was going to be some profound thing, some religious thing, but nope. When they translated it, it said "This is really high." Humans have always just been humans and it's really amazing
For the tattoo on your shoulder: you could put an Edelweiss on it. Its a flower that grows in the Alps (nowadays at least) and is pretty symbolic for the alpine region. Theres a bunch of patterns with it that sometimes is printed on cloth (i have an umbrella with the flower on it), theres keychains, jewelry etc. And tourist stuff obviously lol. You probably should check more facts about it though, such as if it really also grows in the Ötztal maybe, but i think it would be cool! Its not only symbolic for Ötzis cause of death, but also the region he lived in, and a symbol of that region nowadays. But im from the alpine region myself so idk if it would even be significant to you in any way. It would just be what i personally did, knowing the Edelweiss is also a bit of a symbol from my own home.
I don't know if they label significant findings on archaeological findings but it could be super cool to get like the label number or whatever of the arrow wound It could be a cool contrast between the incredibly human and real tattoos Otzi had and your field of expertise
getting his tattoos done by hand in a similar way he did gave me Emotions. it could be cool to get a simplified version of the axe done on your shoulder in white or even uv ink (though generally it doesnt last forever and would need to be redone if you wanted that). It could also be cool to get the actual wound itself done via scarification
Oo Scarification is a great idea, especially if there is good reference for the arrow head wound to extrapolate scarring. The only issues are that scarification is a rare trade (very few artists do them for valid reasons) and posting scarification on the internet gets most people blacklisted on social media (for mostly valid reasons.)
@@Shrifbun For a second, as Milo started on the topic, I have to admit, I was getting an uncomfortable "Delusions in Modern Primitivism" vibe. I was relieved that he was thinking of a symbolic tattoo, and not something more 'authentic'.
For the arrow head, you could do like the picture we use in physics for "going into the page". We typically do it with magnetic fields/currents, but it would work here as marking where the arrow struck. It's pretty simple, just a circle with a large X in it, but it would convey meaning whilst also being minimalist (fits with the rest) and looking cool.
Getting to see Otzi live was a crazy opportunity. I live in Italy, and we were visiting the Dolomites for summer vacations. We randomly found that Otzi's remains were held in the next city over, so I immediately started convincing my wife to indulge my nerdiness. He's held in a lovely little museum in the city of Bolzano, where they go through all the finds related to him, and give a great image of his life.
It was very cool to see them all together like this. I knew Otzi had tattoos but when you can see them in real life... Just how many there were and the spacing on them... It really is like history coming alive.
When time travel is discovered, Milo goes back in time to finally know what happened to Otzi, only to meet a grizzly end at the top of a mountain, and prove shoestring time travel.
Idk what it is dude, but the idea of getting recreations of ancient tattoos literally had me tearing up at the concept of it. You're retelling a tale as old as humanity when we do things like this, what an amazing way to remember our roots
I’ve seen Ötzi in the museum in Bolsano 3 years ago. One of the coolest places I’ve ever been. They also had a sign which said he had a pouch made from leaves which could carry glowing coal pieces to start fires quickly as fire was quite literally life in those days. So maybe a glowing ember, or a small flame on your shoulder?
Imagine, several thousand years from now- Archeologists dig up Milo's crazy italian man remains. They see his tattoos, and, Otzi a long forgotten relic, begin arguing about what they symbolize all over again
Even crazier, if they still knew about Otzi they might be confused on how somebody born 5000 years and however many miles apart have the exact same tattoos. They’d probably think he was a descendant of Otzi
I love how pretty much every archaeologist/archaeology student I’ve known was called to the field at a very young age. It’s like, “how old were you when Ötzi/King Tut/etc… first whispered sweet nothings in your ear as they sunk their hooks into your soul?” (5, in my case) I think 12 is the oldest of anyone I recall mentioning it 🤣 also so cool that you got it done with stick instead of gun! (Also also- glad I’m not the only one who’s first tattoo was based around what sparked that first interest.)
When I was a wee child in the early 90s in elementary school, we had a library day each week. When a brand new book about the recent discovery of the "iceman" came to our library, it was so popular with the kids that there was a waiting list to borrow it and the time you could have it was decreased so we could all get a chance. Ötzi was such an amazing discovery! We were so captivated!
7:44 I feel you on that cultural disconnect as someone who also doesn't have indigenous roots in my country. outside of learning a language, i think learning a skill directly tied to your personal family lineage can be really healing! I learned to spin wool a couple of years ago bc i'm descended from a long line of shepherds, all the women in my family until my mum would spin regularly, and the sense of connection and belonging i feel when i spin is truly unmatched, it's something i'd never felt before. i love it so much, and yet i'm still a little conflicted about celebrating it too much bc i'm aware sheep farming was a major tool for colonization in my country (Aotearoa), it's connection to that is undeniable, but the spinning of wool in my family goes back to the old country, my ancestors in scotland spun and wove and knit as well, so i think so long as the harm caused by colonization is recognized it's okay for me to connect with my ancestors in this way. i encourage all non-indigenous folks to also do some research into your family lineage and historic professions (if you can, i'm aware that if you're african-american there's the stamping out of information regarding your family history, this isn't intended to make you feel pressured to do the impossible), it can be a really amazing way to connect with your heritage without falling into ethnonationalist or supremacist circles
Eh, kia ora, cuz. Good on ya for using the proper name, too. I reckon, and a lot've my extended whanau would agree, that it's cool to celebrate your culture so long as that modern celebration doesn't hurt anybody, eh? Obviously can't speak for all people of Maori descent, here, but most've us definitely just want to be able to do the same, yanno? Good on you for putting that thought in, though, ka pai.
Has the decision been made to change your countries name to Aotearoa? I thank Split Enz for introducing me to the name via "6 months in a leaky boat", which unfortunately is very much about colonization. ☹️
@@2degucitas its not an official decision at all, but a lot of us are unofficially making the switch as a move to decolonize our language and show our love and appreciation for the roots of our homeland. its why i also refer to myself as Pakeha instead of nz european, it's a name i wear with pride and appreciation for my country's history and hope for our future as a nation, i'd loved to see us grow into a place that serves as an example to the rest of the world for how to treat indigenous peoples. we're not there yet, but i hope to see it someday
@@alliebean3235 As a settler in the US, I really appreciate this post. It can be tough finding that balance between loving your roots and feeling that sense of intruding on the space of the colonized, particularly when you become more aware about it in the states (which I would say the vast majority of Americans don't usually think about this at least on a regular basis). I've had an indigenous professor also recommend introducing small aspects of the historic local nation's daily culture back into your own lifestyle, like eating more of the diet of the people who used to live where you are, which can become a daily acknowledgment of your relationship to the land's history without becoming super appropriative of the culture. That's a little hard in the specific state I'm in, but it's little things like that which reduces anxiety for me between that balance of my own history and that need to acknowledge the land's history. Of course, it should never stop just there (political action is desperately needed in the states), but the little things help too.
For the tattoo on the back of your shoulder, maybe you could do a miniature hand print like the ones found in caves? Those hand prints always felt so typically human to me so it would be a fitting symbol in honour of a man who was such an incredible archaeological and anthropological discovery, while still remembering that at his core he was just as human as everyone else.
I've thought about getting one or two of his tattoos but you went full badass and got all 61! Respect to you bro for doing that especially for your first tattoo experience. Love what you do!
Some ideas for your shoulder tat: - a small, fine line, realistic drawing of his copper axe in the place where he was shot - a stick and poke X in the same style as your other tats - a dashed line like those used in chemistry to signify an object going into the page. You could even get one on either side of your shoulder and line them up to create the illusion of a line running through your shoulder :) Loved the vid dude! Very cool
12:30 okay I got an idea: maybe a simple outline of the shape of the arrow wound in red iron oxide. It'll match the other tattoos in its simplicity but still be distinct from them due to color. Iron's associations with blood and rust seems appropriate here.
Dude, now I want to get 5,700 year old tattoos on my borked knee - one set of lines above and one below, or something. Honor Otzi, the absolutely ancient practice of art as healing, and that one time I stepped in a gopher hole at band camp. :D
Loving the Providence commentary. You hit the nail on the head, once saw this aphorism: Drivers in Mass drive like they want to kill you, in Rhode Island they drive like they want to kill themselves. However, having recently moved to Worcester, they sure give Provie a run for their money! Great concept for your tattoos.
Great first tattoos! Since those tattoos are so thin, they'll "blow out" over time, meaning the ink will spread out somewhat. This is part of the appeal of stick and poke/thin line tattoos because they will look very much like they look on Otzi! Also, bleeding is completely normal with tattoos. They just shouldn't be bleeding after you wash them off the first time.
I used to have so many facts about Ötzi memorized from when I was a child, having been captivated by the same morbid curiosity. While he didn't push me to go into archaeology (I like math too much to not do it for a career), he did push me into researching all the other mummies from around the world, and in turn all the cultures from around the world that had mummies, and further on from there. Thanks to this one nearly 6,000 yead old coppersmith, I learned just how big and just how cool the ancient world was, and that has been a lifelong passion ever since. Thanks Ötzi, I couldn't have done it without you. Loved this video, Milo. Big time nostalgia and big time interesting IRL lore. 10/10, and unbelievably hyped for the full miniseries.
@@toast6375 Electrical engineering, though I'm perpetually tempted to go and re-specialize back into nuclear, or go full academic and do radiochemistry or nuclear physics. Funnily, radiochemistry would indirectly put me back in line with archaeology, as it would qualify me to be the lab monkey that runs tests on finds to see how old they are.
I hope Otzi sees how much people love him even thousands of years later. His body makes me so sad, like a funeral viewing. He was such an adorable old man. It's one of those, why would you tear up over ancient hominids. Otzi! Otzi is why, his eyes look so warm in the recreation. Makes me so sad he was murdered, fought for his life, and left in the cold. I'm glad we were able to find him and he's not lying in the cold somewhere, alone on a mountain. That he's with people who absolutely adore him. If he was buried properly I wouldn't feel so bad he was left alone and in the cold.
@@r2Kd0ugernaut strongest pessimist also he died of blood loss from an arrow wound, and was half-beaten to death, possibly by multiple people before being left for dead. he was with a friend at the time, and is presumed to have died of bloodloss because his friend wasn't able to staunch the bleeding. he was known to have immediately killed/severely wounded two people prior, and given the style of damage dealt to his limbs, most likely did it in self defence since only two people vs 4 others sounds more like barely surviving an ambush rather than trying to ambush someone. while there's no evidence he was a rapist, if he was a warrior he most certainly would have fallen into the moral definition of a murderer, and a venerated, experienced one that that, especially amongst the people of his community. if anything the whole thing looks like a band from a neighbouring, warring community attempted and succeeded to kill what was effectively a champion of the region in a pyrrhic victory that left multiple severely wounded/dead
As a tattooer this video is a nice surprise! In my own research, I’ve found there’s not an abundance on ancient tattoo meanings. What did they mean if they meant anything? Were they earned? If so what feats or accomplishments did the person have to do to get them? If this topic is of interest to you I highly recommend also listening to “Reinventing the Tattoo Podcast Ep. 1” where Aaron Deter-Wolf goes in depth with his findings on this subject. As always great video man! 👌
Aaron Deter-Wolf was one of my professors in College and a personal friend. He doesn't get enough credit and it bothers me that people, when they make videos like this don't acknowledge him or other people who do the research... If your really interesting in Aaron's work pick up the book he co-edited with Lars Krutak, Ancient Ink. It's got a bunch of authors and their articles in there as well as native groups such as Inuit who still practice their ancient techniques and traditions.
It’s hard to know what something meant 3000 years ago unless it was Sumer (in which case we have written records), or Yamna, in which case we can reconstruct it from what the later cultures did and still do.
@@tompatterson1548 idk Egyptian mummies covered in tattoos with the same symbols found on statuary of which we have written egyptian records on going back nearly 4000 years is a thing too... and we have records of traditions given to us by peoples like the Naga in South East Asia about their traditional techniques and meaning dating back as far as their oral traditions go. Same for Inuit groups and other North American Natives who have unending practices dating back until time immemorial. Thats just to name a few groups and peoples out of a world that has always used markings to differentiate ourselves. Obviously some of them we can only interpret the meaning but it isn't a great "mystery" nor is it an unstudied subject. I know I studied it in college as part of my history degree.
Hey I love that you "took us along" on a tattoo adventure. I think it would be cool and interesting to do a "Field Trip" video series as well maybe? It could be fun, from visiting sites, to recreating old wold tech and rituals or ceremonies.
This channel is probably the best find that RUclips recommended for me this year. Love the channel, and keep up the incredibly fun and interesting content!
I remember back in the dark ages when I was in school we actually visited the museum he was shown at - I remember staring at this guy that died so long ago through what felt like 5 layers of glass and thinking that I want to know all there is to know about him - cannot wait to see a video on him from you. He sure has left an impact. (And mad dips on getting the tattoos done traditionally, amazing!)
I'm a history student majoring in anthropology and I'm so happy that there are people like you guys around because many people in my courses believe in these ridiculous conspiracies, but I can't say anything because it will start a whole thing that is not at all related to what we're learning. Thank-you
Some of them might be true. What are you going to say?? Why is your opinion better then any others?? You will find out after you are just a student majoring in anthropology. Maybe they are just conspiracies and maybe those other people do believe to hard. I'm not sure exactly which "conspiracies" you are talking about but there is plenty of evidence that shows there were civilizations that outdate the oldest we officially recognize that were also much more advanced then we think. I mean unless your talking about alien conspiracies or something like that then you are far to closed minded for anthropology and will just hinder discoveries.
Milo, you legend. I’m 48 years old, have been fascinated with Ötzi for years, and have read about everything I can find about the discovery. My wife teaches elementary school and once a year I’m a “special guest” and give my little Ötzi talk. Most of the little kids find the story as fascinating as I do.
As someone who remembers the days of, AOL AltaVista, and Netscape, Milo referring to 2004 as "proto internet" is almost as adorable as baby archeologist Milo.
PLEASE do a series on Otzi! i actually had a very similar upbringing with archaeology that you had, seeing the what looked like melted orange flesh to the shape of muscle and bone, the arm completely contorted obviously trying to tell a story of his death, and the wildly interesting things we’ve learned from it all made me interested in archaeology and i’ve just now rekindled that passion through your videos.
I really love the way Milo talks about archeology, like you can tell that he truly loves what he does. I bet there are too many archeology professors to count that do droning, boring lectures with no real substance. But Milo talks about everything with passion and humor, he reminds me of my 10th grade US history teacher, in that he doesn't just talk about the subject, he explains how certai archeological finds effected the science as a whole. Love ya Milo keep doing what you do.
My dad worked on the Nova documentary on Otzi, As a kid I got to meet the sculptor of the replica and go to Colds Spring Harbor to meet James Watson! So cool to see someone else loving and being fascinated by Otzi almost a decade later!
Milo, for a future feature on Otzi it might be fun to follow the teeth enamel isotopes that traced his birth place back to present day Italy (you may be related to Otzi!) and then recreate his footsteps and what may have been his adventures which led him to get the tattoos, the valuable axe (and how it upended current thought on metallurgy of the time), his clothes and insulated “shoes” and his wondrous tool kit, including the half finished arrows etc. Add the parasites and diseases/tooth wear and tear and give us a look into the real struggles of a person over 5000 years ago and the whodunnit involved in his attempt to escape across the alps only to be killed with an arrow. (Why didn’t the perpetrators take that incredibly valuable copper axe? I wonder what modern item could be equated with Otzi’s axe in terms of financial and practical value)
when you mentioned that you were considering another tattoo on your shoulder i immediately thought of some sort of spiral or radial pattern- i think it would pair really nicely with the linear designs of the rest of the tattoos while still standing out :)
Hi! Palaeolithic archaeologist (student) here. I immediately thought of putting a stone point, complete with proper flake scars and shading like a proper stone tool illustration, on your shoulder!
Don't think that's possible. The wound is on the top of the back of the left shoulder. I don't see how you could fit the words so that the period is where the wound is without either making them unreadable small or writing them right-to-left (maybe upside-down).
That has to have also been a cool experience for the artist. A chance to recreate the oldest tattoo's known to modern man? I have a friend who is a tattoo artist that I know would leap at the chance to connect to the literal ancient origin of his practice.
The curiosity of the copper axe being present with Otzi has always made me think that 1 of 2 things had to be true. 1 he used his remaining moments to escape to that mountain top and his pursuers just gave up pursuit due to weather or 2 it was extremely personal. A betrayal, in which any evidence would link the attacker(s) to Otzi and raise questions. But my action movies brain says scout shot and beat before he could warm others but still tells it from the mountain top "beacons are lit, Gondor calls for aid!" Style is also an option.
I always found Otzi interesting but years ago when I found out about him I either couldn’t find much or had completely forgotten everything I learned. But it’s funny how I went from not liking Indiana Jones and the dull early history lessons in school (except for 6th grade, shout out to my history teacher that year who definitely had a hand in kindling my love for Mesopotamia) to being stoked about the newest movie and hyperfixating about archeology and its mysterious finds and the unknown all because of this channel reawakening my interest in archaeology and ancient civilizations (especially ancient civilizations)
I 'dig' the dedication. And thanks for everything! I pursued a STEM career but always had a soft spot for humanities back in school. Thank you for taking me right back to my grade 4 class when the teacher discussed natural mummification and taught us about Otzi. It warms my heart.
Sad that there is a perceived division between STEM and the Humanities. The reality is that you can’t have one without the other. So glad you are out there appreciating both. Preach!
You could combine them and become a bioarcheologists or help with the experimental archeology research as a consultant one my friends is using their music degree that way
Plot Twist: Ötzi possessed magical powers in life, and by getting all the same tattoos Milo has inherited his sorcerous gift and has to use them to fight off the impending invasion of supernatural forces from the bygone age when monsters and gods roamed the earth instead of our thoughts.
I love these Videos, the field of Archeology needs more people who make it appealing to a broader audience and what you are doing here is a great service to the entire archeological community.
I’ve been thinking of getting Ötzi tattoos for years, and you’re out here living the dream. So cool!! And a full-length Ötzi video like you suggest would be awesome
It’s always interesting to learn how somebody discovered their passion. Until now, I just assumed you watched Disney’s Atlantis as a kid and realized that you had to be an archeologist too
It's cool to hear how special Ötzi is to you. I have to admit that out of all the museums that my school took trips to, the Ötzi exhibit is still stuck in my mind. It truly takes your breath away when trying to conceptualise of how remarkable this find is! Also, cool tats!
The first thing that came to mind when you were talking about the arrow wound was a little target/bullseye. It's simple and geometric and might go well with the other ones
And they were even hand done, like Otzi would have gotten them done. Bravo! I had the National Geographic that had Otzi in it and I must have re-read that article about 50 times.
tbh whether you're into this stuff or not, everyone who has a chance should go to the iceman museum. it is without a doubt the most interesting and well-laid-out museum i've ever been to
This is amazing dude! I fell in love with Otzi when I saw a documentary about him on TV several years ago. When they talked about his last meal, lifestyle, how he likely died a slow painful death, and even his eye color it made me emotional in a weirdly existential way. Having to grapple with the uncertainty and finality of death and what comes after is a very 'human" experience and I have to admit if people found my mummified remains, studied me, etc in 6000 years that would make me proud. If I were to somehow know about it, that is. It seems like Otzi was very proud of being such a decorated warrior in his time and I like to think he would also be proud to see that we are not only interested in his life and who he was as a person, but he also hasn't been forgotten. I'm sure that, especially for people who lived that far in the past, their best hope of being remembered after death was through oral history via relatives for maybe another hundred years. If they only knew!
Thanks Milo for trusting me with these tattoos! It was a lot of fun and such a special project. :-)
hi
Awesome job!! Always great to see people still doing excellent poke tatt work ♥
Amazing job!
There seems to be a lot less swelling than with a gun
Very cool. Can you do Trash Polka style? LOL
Future archeologists are gonna be so confused as to why theses two have matching tattoos
Future conspiracy theorists are gonna have a field day
@@NoiseDay fAmILy hEIrLoOM TaTToO?!?😱😱😱
The two specimens show the exact same ritual tattooing and likely belonged to the same small religious cult that survived thousands of years.
Unfortunately future archeologist are only going to find burial fields of soup coffins
Obviously, it was for ceremonial purposes.
I think it’s safe to say that if one asks an archeologist who was their inspiration, 1 of 2 answers will be given:
1.) Indiana Jones
2.) Otzi
Looks like I have a bingo
My main interest for history comes from Erich von Däniken of all people. I loved his books and they got me into digging more into Egypt and South Americans, completely ignoring what he said to learn more about what was actually going on.
@@HereticalKitsune as they say, listening to idiots can be surprisingly inspiring.
@@miniminuteman773
....and for all of us here, to this list Minuteman needs to be added, regarding being an inspiration! 🤜🏻🤛🏻🍻
Or 3.) Tomb raider
Living in northern Italy, not far from the museum where Ötzi is, I went to see him a couple times as a kid, both with my family and with friends. I have really fond memories of those trips and getting one of his tattoos has been on my mind for a while. Definitely gonna do it in the near future.
He is probably one of the most amazing discoveries ever, he was found with clothes, tools, shoes, an axe, dagger and bow and arrows, we even know what animal's skin his clothes were made of. We know how he died and there are many theories about how he lived. Not to mention the incredible amount of work scientists and archeologists continue to put in in order to keep him from wasting away. I remember, even as kids, we never saw him as macabre entertainment but rather as a really old person to pay respect to, mostly because in the museum you can see all his possessions and the possible lives he may have lived. You get out the door feeling the same sensation as if you had heard an elderly relative's story, as if you had actually gotten the chance to meet him
Watch out that first reply is a bot!!
Love how you see him as a person more so then just some object. The world needs more people to see like you! Thank you ❤
Reminds me of that short animated film World Of Tomorrow
The guy would have been thrilled to have known how famous he was going to be 😊
Thank you for sharing that! It seems a lot more . . . respectful(?) maybe _humanizing_ is a better word . . . than I would have expected if I'd thought about it. So many exhibits feel more like their purpose is to separate people from their money, rather than to teach or honor the _people_ who _were_ our history. It makes me hopeful that maybe we can learn from our past behavior. 💙
@@Victoria-mg5btI wonder if he would be. He would have never met anyone as famous as he is now. He may never have thought of the idea of being known by so many people. He may never have thought of so many people existing.
I would really love to know if he would have liked being famous.
I'd be 1000% down for a "all we know about the man who is now known as Otzi" video. From you, specifically. I know I can Google that
^ I second that.
Thirded
although I doubt I'd learn anything new (actually especially because I doubt I'd learn anything)
I would be much more interested in a "here is what we don't know for sure but are still debating/wondering"....
Like you said, it can easily be googled what the consensus is. It would be interesting to see how arguments and facts are weighed. Viewing from consensus it always seems much easier, but from within the debate you have to give more room for counter arguments.
That would also fit in with his anti-pseudoscience videos, as it shows there's a good reason for both concensus and debate.
I'd definitely love to see this
He's got a full miniseries coming out about Otzi! @2:27 you can see in the corner of the screen
Imagine if Otzi was able to see us and he saw a person literally *5700 years* after your death honoring you by getting your tattoos on them. That'd be a wild moment.
could be disrespectfull in some way dont know...... lol what if that was that mans body count i dont know its cool tho
@@biggs7109 look's like a body count to me too. which would make him a badass pro killer. and then you go ahead and get his tattoos, without putting in the work to earn them?
@@HellNoIdeasLeft yeah that guys victums are gonna haunt the hell out of this guy lol but in all reality they must of been very significant
"its nice to be remembered, but my name was Clarence"
@@biggs7109 that guy fucked
I wrote about Ötzi's tattoos once for a paper in a university art class, and it always stuck with me that the tattoos were potentially used in a medical fashion. It's insane that his body is so well preserved that we're able to tell "oh his bones were ouchy right here where this tattoo is" and "he had pneumonia which explains the chest tattoo." It's bonkers!
I would love to hear you go more into the potential meanings of the tattoos in your Ötzi miniseries
So Otzi was carrying his medical history with him? That’s so cool!
Imagine if he had these tattoos as omage to another dead body. And the circle continues
Please Milo, make this happen!
Yeah I wondered about this watching the video because they seem to be in pretty random places, not like obvious "ooo look at my sweet tats" kinda places but instead more like acupuncture points targeting specific zones. (I know nothing about acupuncture btw, it just made me think of it."
@@parcival6762 then, in a thousand years, some body is going to come accross Milo, and then get his tattoos.
MASSIVE respect for not only getting 61 tattoos as your first tattoo experience, but also for getting them the same way Ötzi would have gotten his. I think if you both ever met he’d be very proud. 💜💜💜
Stick and poke is not how otzi got his tho!! they are scarifications and then charcoal rub in the wounds :)
@@jnol784 that sound way more painful😬
It also sound badass as fuck
@@LazyUgguggapparently it’s less painful than you’d imagine :>
Maybe with a *really* sharp piece of obsidian, the scarification and charcoal wasn't as bad as we would think?
Otzi would have asked for what reason he got the tattoo, then laugh and call him a fool for getting a meaningless tattoo just to be interesting..
What Milo said at the end there about tattooing with a sharp rock and charcoal reminded me of something not at all related, but which y'all might find somewhat interesting. My great-granddad was a coal miner and his back was covered in spidery black lines that were basically tattoos, that he got from getting scratched on the back when crawling through low mine levels and then of course coal dust would get into the scratches.
That's equal parts awful and sick as hell!
I do find that interesting, thank you. Sorta reminiscent to when I worked in a steel fab shop and we would breathe in the black dust from cutting metal and it would give all of us big hard black boogers and stain our noses black lol It sucked, it was all you could smell for hours after work
@@GlorifiedGremlin Is that... safe? Long-term?
Rad.
@@Amanda-C. not one bit, it stays in your lungs for life basically
Milo is chosen to be the first time traveller, travelling back in time to find the alive Ötzi, only to become Ötzi.
🤯🤯
Pretty sure thats the plot of a Heinlein novel
@@taylorboulton177 Are you sure? I think it's Connie Willis....
😜
PARADOX
Who really composed Beethoven's Fifth?
I think you are underselling the fact that what really got you into archaeology was supportive parents.
Right! I find myself envying him 😅
yes, totally
That’s soo cool. I actually had a similar idea. Back some years ago I found out about the ‘siberian ice maiden’ discovery. Of a Scythian woman that lived in the 5th century bc in the Altai mountains in Siberia. She had her left arm full of tattoos. And on her left shoulder she had a tattoo of some kind of deer, or some deer like creature. I remember I was struck by the detail, complexity, and beauty of the tattoo; all within the fact that it was done 2400 years ago. So then I decided that I wanted to get it, it was going to be my first tattoo. A couple of months ago I finally got it, and it was super exciting and emotional. Now I carry the tattoo of a woman that lived 2400 years ago, a person just like me, that had dreams and hopes, that laughed and got sad, but inhabited a completely different world and lived a totally different life. What a privilege to be able to honor her and all the people of the past though art
I was eyeing the same tattoos, but so many people already got them done, I didn't want to copy. But they surely are beautiful tattoos.
I've always loved that tattoo!
I had the same thought when I saw her tattoos for the first time!
Otzi went out of this world with a sick-ass, 5700 year old dab. What a legend.
Why did you say this? You didn’t need to say this.
But you did…
5700 years later you said this…
And it has forever changed the definition of one of the most significant discoveries in human history for me. Why? Why did you do this?
[Otzi, bleeding from a severe thoracic wound, lying at the bottom of a hidden crevasse]: "Looks like this is how I go out...but at least they're not getting my *sick copper axe*!" [dabs] [dies]
@@jamzee_ cry 😂
@@jamzee_ my brain also didn’t need this😂
Truly one of the best of us
I work in the tattoo industry, I am heavily tattooed, and I’m into the history and heritage behind tattooing.
I think it’s absolutely rad you got these stick and poke, as it’s the closest modern method to what they would have been doing thousands of years ago while still being safe and sanitary.
It shows respect to Otzi, the art form and roots of tattooing. You rock.
That means the world!! Definitely not the right move to use a tattoo gun for this one. But also I’m not risking blood poisoning with a sharp rock.
Given the shape of tat here I would expect the originals to not be stick and poke but instead a cut and rub where slits are made and Ash or ink of some sort is rubbed into the marks.
@@miniminuteman773 "so where is the tattoo gun?
"Oh, we use the other way."
Came here to say the same thing- doing it in a traditional method is very cool, and the best way to recreate that kind of thing in a safe way. I have family members with traditional indigenous tattoos done, indeed, in stick and poke.
Lived in French Polynesia in the late 1980s and 1990s and my first three tattoos were traditional Tahitian designs inspired by admiration of traditional culture and by pre-colonial lithographs and ink drawings of Tahitian warriors - the tattoos were done with the traditional tapping method: using a hollowed pig's tooth. Took hours but nowhere near as painful as a tattoo machine and for one of them I drank kava which has a pleasant anaesthetic effect.
Polynesian cultures across the Pacific - Hawaiian, Samoan, Tahitian (Maohi) and New Zealand (Maori) - all developed the art of tattooing and share some common spiritual themes and aesthetic styles.
Unfortunately the arrival of Christian missionaries led to the destruction and suppression of many of these remarkable indigenous cultures, especially in Tahiti and Hawaii. In Tahiti missionaries destroyed the marae (stone temples), overturned the tribal social order, banned the Tahitian religion and language and forbade the practise of tattooing for over a century. Barbarians.
So.
My art history teacher, Pamela Reed who has since passed away had a favorite ideology- it came from Egypt.
I think you already know it, as I’ve said her name specifically because of it.
“You have two deaths, your physical death, and the last time someone will ever speak your name.”
And while you might not know his true name. You are certainly speaking about him.
And carrying his tattoos as a sort of living memory is, by and large, as honorable as speaking his real name.
So thank you for keeping history alive.
Terry Pratchett had a similar idea. “A man’s not dead while his name’s still spoken.”
My philosophy is that since we are more our thoughts and memories than our bodies if we are remembered or known about we’re alive in some sense. Our deaths go 1. The severance of our body and memory 2. Usually the decomposition of our body and 3. The last person who knows who are were/are also dies.
I just visited Pompeii and had a similar conversation with my wife, because the area doesn't 'feel' like a place of great tragedy. But surely the victims of Pompeii have had the longest lives of almost anyone.
Whoever shot 'em in the back and left 'em for dead on that mountain must be so mad right now
This video is a little old, so more recently weve had scientists recreate Otzi's footwear! They wanted to test it's warmth and funtional capabilities, considering he was found on a snowy mountain with them. They took their recreations on a climb of some kind where one person had them, and the rest of the team had modern gear. The guy who wore the hide shoes said his feet had never felt more comfortable, that they didn't really feel "tired" like we all experience now, and compared to his coleagese he didn't have a single blister while having his feet still be kept perfectly warm!
that is so cool! now I want a set of Otzi shoes haha
Fascinating! New isn't always better. That's one lesson we can't seem to learn. I'm not saying that I'd want to walk around wearing half a yak, though! It's just that we have _so much_ to discover; writing off our past as being wholely inferior to the present is short-sighted.
They gotta patent it and sell it, I'd wear those hahah
@katie6731 apparently when it comes to shoes weve legit de evolved
ruclips.net/video/igYwEFN19og/видео.htmlsi=rZunc_jNhtzrQbC8
ruclips.net/video/8O6Ex4h4Qp4/видео.htmlsi=5zx1o_OgAYp-Rz2h
You could get a tattoo of his “Iconic copper Ax” in the place he was shot if you wanted to do a two for one. Honestly I think the ax looks pretty bad ass and I know there are some great tattoo artists out there that would be able to draw it out and capture the “iconicness” of it
love this idea!
Maybe have the blade stuck into him a little where the arrowhead would have entered. I agree, it would be a shame not to include his simple but cool weapon.
Came here to offer this as a suggestion myself, so I'll up vote yours and we'll all hope he sees it.
That was going to be my suggestion too! That would be a really neat tie-in to the rest of the set
Or on his inner arm or thigh and done like it is strapped there with leather to be easy to grab
Getting tattoos from bog bodies? It’s like you’re trying to have eldrich gods bind themselves to you.
Bold of you to assume he's not
The oldest gods had no names, they wern't even anthropomorphised, they were embodiments of concept, of action. Given form and being only by those with the capacity to perceive them.
Hey, they've probably been lonely for a long time. He's doing them a kindness by allowing them into his skin and back into our mortal plane.
Not a bog body technically
He’s also doing it in Providence Rhode Island. Which is the town where HP Lovecraft lived. A bad omen to be certain.
My partner is a tattoo artist and shop owner, I have a bunch myself, and we just literally cheered when we saw you were getting them hand poked. Hell fucking yeah
there is another way? 😮
@@hypatiakovalevskayasklodow9195 with a tattoo machine that automatically inserts the needle and the ink
@@hypatiakovalevskayasklodow9195 You're serious? lol
Why would you see hand poking as better than machine?
@@eoincampbell1584 I don’t, but it’s way cooler for getting the tattoos he got
i'm sure other people have said it, but i think the shoulder tat being the dashed-line circle used in autopsy charts would be a really cool nod to the logistical, hard work that goes into studying archeology. i imagine it takes a lot to be able to do that. point is, the pursuit of knowledge just because we're curious is also something that's so distinctly human and beautiful. feels right up your alley! (just in case, sorry if i sound insane, i took an edible and i don't wanna read whatever i just typed lmao)
Imagine what Otzi would think if you told him that in 3700 years somebody would get his tattoos, and he would be known by a huge portion of all humans. I wonder if he would be able to understand the significance of that.
I feel like being well known & appreciated by many people is something universally understood among homo sapiens.
What Ötzi would absolutely not understand is the sheer mass of people that exist and know about him. Back in his age, global human population was like 7 Million, now we're way beyond 7 billion. He probably didn't see more than a few hundred people throughout his lifetime. Modern humans can hardly imagine what a million people look like - to ötzi, telling him he's known by billions would be incomprehensible.
Anything from:
"That's nice, lots of our group has them too. But since you're here can you help me track this game I'm after?"
through
"You must have the same pains as me, to have had those done."
to
"You what? Those were curse markings put on me against my will! They mark me as pariah!"
And stopping at the unserious because of the timeframe you mention:
"There's an arrow in my side and I'm dying in a snow drift, what do I care?"
By a tiny portion of humans actually
@@Gruwg2024 Otzi? I think at least half of all English speakers have probably at least heard the story. I don't know how prevalent it is in other languages, but I'd call hundreds of millions of people a huge group.
@@korstmahler There's a lot of speculation that his tattoos were medicinal in some way, either symbolically or in a process similar to acupuncture. Whether or not that's accurate, Ötzi had most likely a high status in his community, as suggested by him having a very rare and valuable copper hatchet.
My son has also been obsessed with archeology, paleontology and history since he was literally a toddler. He's almost 16 now and still determined to go into one of those fields. He also loves your channel
Good luck to him in his future studies!
good luck to him! ive also had an obsession with archeology and history since toddlerhood, didn't help that my grandmother was one of the best history professor's in her city lmao
A little tip for your next tattoo:
Take off the second skin under the shower, the heat and moisture help release the adhesive
also pull down in the same direction your hair grows to not rip them out.
The tats look great btw!
And take your time, you can get it off without pain if you do it right
Came here to look for this comment but in my heart I already knew someone had said it
Good advice! I've only seen second skin used once and it was on a burn, which you are NOT supposed to do.
Getting any band-aid type thing off is usually much easier if you get it wet first. Don't know why it took me so long to figure that out when I knew that wet band-aids fall off by themselves.
I was so confused on what that was. I've only had one tat done and they just taped some padding on me, so I thought he was ripping off skin. lmao
this is such an incredibly beautiful idea, the thought of two people who lived thousands of years apart forever being bound by their tattoos, the art pressed into their skin, that's just so beautiful to me. Its a true symbol of the human connection. It just the same way we saw the same stars as the first humans did, (for the most part, stars die yknow) we saw the same sun, every laugh every tear someone else has felt. and now you carry the same marks as a man who's been gone for years. Its really pretty to me:)
Wow, for a brief moment you simultaneously had the oldest and YOUNGEST tattoos in the world
For your puncture wound tattoo idea, I reckon just a small circle of the area hit would be cool. Since your other tattoos are simple lines, keeping it simple but making it a ring instead could be cool
Awesome idea
He even thought Otzi did have a circle on him
It was providence; a premonition
That was my thought too! Would match beautifully with the minimalism of the others
@@lucym7438 Will be interesting to see what he ends up getting
@@CyberSandbox No it was Providence; Rhode Island
Floriography nerd here! I think a flower with meaning behind it might be a nice marker for the arrow wound, since significance being tied to flowers goes super far back (although I'm not sure it goes as far back as Otzi's time or was present in his region). Maybe bay leaf for victory and changing in death. Chestnuts have strong symbolism in Italy, near where Otzi was found, although I'm not Italian so I don't know much. Gladiolus means "you pierce my heart", probably meaning something about falling in love, but I think it'd be funny to take that literally given the cause of death. There's really a lot of cool plants to choose from for this stuff!
Phenomenal idea! Flowers have been used in grave rituals for over 60,000 years and were used by neandertals before humans! Needless to say it is a long running tradition.
@@miniminuteman773 well, Neandertals were humans.... and yes, they probably used flowers as a burial offering in Sanidar cave :)
@@zoharturg what does your name mean, if you don't mind me asking.
@@zoharturg Technically, yes, but I think he meant that as in homo sapiens
@@miniminuteman773 depending on how you feel about Norse mythology a Mistletoe may be a good option. Beyond the somewhat minimal phonetic nod, it was the arrow used to kill Hathor. Not Exactly parallel but that death from that arrow led to Ragnerok and the start of a new age. Just as his death from that arrow lead into a new age for you and many like you.
Hearing you call my college years the era of the proto-internet made ME feel like I’m about as old as Otzi. And I’m in the tech industry. Thanks, man…lol. I still love your channel and all your work!
Lol right? I was like... 'Wait a minute! "
I remember when my dad told me about Ötzi, because we were in the area and then we went into the museum and saw him. that was the first time I realised, that history before the middle ages didn't just happen far away in egypt or something (little me was obsessed with ancient egypt), but also near me. since then I've seen him multiple times and I still lobe history and the Ötzi and now I'm studying archaeology yay
Uhhhhh yes! Little me was also obsessed with ancient Rome, egypt and Greek. But after my dad took me to a museum with a statue of Ötzi, I read everything there was about what we knew about that time and also Germania and stuff
I remember when my father talked to me about Ötzi when I was a child, I've never went to the museum but he said that he was a night guard there for some years so it struck into my mind up to this day
@@alfredorotondo Hmmm... night at the museum.
@@2degucitas exactly, but with ötzi instead of the mummy
Four hours for that many straight lines of stick and poke tattoos is actually really impressive. That tattoo artist has really good technique to be able to do all that in such a short amount of time. Also, absolutely kudos for getting Otzi's tattoos. He's definitely a very impressive archeological discover to me too.
12:43 "Alright, fuckers"
That caught me off guard 💀
Sucks to be the other guy if Otzi WAS murdered, no trace of him whatsoever, yet Otzi persevered for thousands of years and will be remembered for thousands more! Poetic justice? And also rad as hell.
well really depends. We'll never know why he was murdered if he was. I do like to think he was being hunted and they killed him for no reason but maybe Otzi was the bad guy in the situation, sad we'll never know.
@@Kiralmao omg he could have slaughtered an innocent village and was hunted down for justice and we're over here like "uwu-tzi my beloved skrunkly moist jerki babboo" 😱
@@AlottaBoulchit 💀
The Chad Otzi, VS the virgin bow murderer
You aren't remembered for your abilities, only for your actions -jk Rowling
Dude, Milo, I just wanted to say you're the fu**ing man!
I love the pursuit of knowledge and good humor, and your channel scratches both those itches.
So glad you're blowing up because you deserve it!
Its people like you that make it worth it! Thank you for your kind words and I hope to continue to impress.
The image of him in a maid outfit will never be cleansed from my head
@@wertwertsen1963 Good
@@wertwertsen1963 Where does one find this miniminutemaid ?
@@Soken50 the second channel in one of his unboxing vids
Archeologists in the future are gonna be really confused to find Bronze Age tattoos on a Silicon age Italian on Rhode Island surrounded by conspiracy theory books
That is 100% awesome, I was big into acupuncture and acupressure in the late 90s, and I did my senior thesis in Biology on the tattoos of Ötzi the Iceman and how shockingly analogous they were to the meridian theory of Chinese Medicine used in acupuncture and acupressure. If you look into it, the lines and crosses are directly analogous to various meridians and tsubos (pressure points) on them. It was pretty wild how comparable they were. I actually thought about getting those tattoos myself at the time.
Also, big props on the tattoo method. Very impressive.
The humanizing factor is a big reason why I got into history. Even something as recent as the Second World War (just an example but this applies to any time period) it can be easy to forget that many of them were just kids in their late teens or twenties. They had dreams and aspirations, and they joked, laughed, and cried just like any like any of us today.
Bravo!
One of the reasons I teach is to change the perception of history and balance the trash of the great man historiography by making the past relatable and tangible. Love that Milo takes a similar direction.
This is why I got into history as well. My area of interest is mostly the "barbarian" parts of roman Europe because I think it's so important to remember how human they are and how they would go on to migrate into, and become the ancestors of the nations of Europe today.
I'm sure you meant "aspirations" but aspersions is pretty funny.
I remember hearing about kids back in old Mesopotamia writing notes (on stone or clay idk) in cuneiform about their annoying teacher and from that moment on I just felt so connected to history. We, as the human race, never really change.
look into ancient graffiti! It's so fascinating! There's some Norse runes really high up in a cave somewhere and researchers thought it was going to be some profound thing, some religious thing, but nope. When they translated it, it said "This is really high." Humans have always just been humans and it's really amazing
For the tattoo on your shoulder: you could put an Edelweiss on it. Its a flower that grows in the Alps (nowadays at least) and is pretty symbolic for the alpine region. Theres a bunch of patterns with it that sometimes is printed on cloth (i have an umbrella with the flower on it), theres keychains, jewelry etc. And tourist stuff obviously lol. You probably should check more facts about it though, such as if it really also grows in the Ötztal maybe, but i think it would be cool! Its not only symbolic for Ötzis cause of death, but also the region he lived in, and a symbol of that region nowadays. But im from the alpine region myself so idk if it would even be significant to you in any way. It would just be what i personally did, knowing the Edelweiss is also a bit of a symbol from my own home.
it's a song from the sound of music!!
Can’t escape the Edelweiss when you live in Switzerland 🥲
I don't know if they label significant findings on archaeological findings but it could be super cool to get like the label number or whatever of the arrow wound
It could be a cool contrast between the incredibly human and real tattoos Otzi had and your field of expertise
They also do stuff like that when investigating a crime scene, like a murder, so there would be a double meaning.
@@TheKinseth holy shit we're geniuses 🙏
Hey that’s actually super clever!
This kid is so funny. When he's trying to be funny, he's funny; when he's not trying to be funny, he's funny. It's a win/win. Plus archaeology.
getting his tattoos done by hand in a similar way he did gave me Emotions. it could be cool to get a simplified version of the axe done on your shoulder in white or even uv ink (though generally it doesnt last forever and would need to be redone if you wanted that). It could also be cool to get the actual wound itself done via scarification
Oo Scarification is a great idea, especially if there is good reference for the arrow head wound to extrapolate scarring. The only issues are that scarification is a rare trade (very few artists do them for valid reasons) and posting scarification on the internet gets most people blacklisted on social media (for mostly valid reasons.)
@@Shrifbun For a second, as Milo started on the topic, I have to admit, I was getting an uncomfortable "Delusions in Modern Primitivism" vibe. I was relieved that he was thinking of a symbolic tattoo, and not something more 'authentic'.
For the arrow head, you could do like the picture we use in physics for "going into the page". We typically do it with magnetic fields/currents, but it would work here as marking where the arrow struck. It's pretty simple, just a circle with a large X in it, but it would convey meaning whilst also being minimalist (fits with the rest) and looking cool.
yes! or the circle with a dot in the middle
Getting to see Otzi live was a crazy opportunity. I live in Italy, and we were visiting the Dolomites for summer vacations. We randomly found that Otzi's remains were held in the next city over, so I immediately started convincing my wife to indulge my nerdiness. He's held in a lovely little museum in the city of Bolzano, where they go through all the finds related to him, and give a great image of his life.
Seeing him live? Did you just admit to being a vampire?
It was very cool to see them all together like this. I knew Otzi had tattoos but when you can see them in real life... Just how many there were and the spacing on them... It really is like history coming alive.
When time travel is discovered, Milo goes back in time to finally know what happened to Otzi, only to meet a grizzly end at the top of a mountain, and prove shoestring time travel.
Idk what it is dude, but the idea of getting recreations of ancient tattoos literally had me tearing up at the concept of it. You're retelling a tale as old as humanity when we do things like this, what an amazing way to remember our roots
I’ve seen Ötzi in the museum in Bolsano 3 years ago. One of the coolest places I’ve ever been. They also had a sign which said he had a pouch made from leaves which could carry glowing coal pieces to start fires quickly as fire was quite literally life in those days. So maybe a glowing ember, or a small flame on your shoulder?
Im so glad you tried to get as close to how they might have originally made the tattoos. I have done hand poke and they are amazingly painless.
Imagine, several thousand years from now- Archeologists dig up Milo's crazy italian man remains. They see his tattoos, and, Otzi a long forgotten relic, begin arguing about what they symbolize all over again
Even crazier, if they still knew about Otzi they might be confused on how somebody born 5000 years and however many miles apart have the exact same tattoos. They’d probably think he was a descendant of Otzi
Watch as Milo gets interpreted as the second coming.
I love how pretty much every archaeologist/archaeology student I’ve known was called to the field at a very young age. It’s like, “how old were you when Ötzi/King Tut/etc… first whispered sweet nothings in your ear as they sunk their hooks into your soul?” (5, in my case) I think 12 is the oldest of anyone I recall mentioning it 🤣 also so cool that you got it done with stick instead of gun! (Also also- glad I’m not the only one who’s first tattoo was based around what sparked that first interest.)
Out of curiosity what was your first tattoo
i think a crossed arrow and copper axe would be a fantastic homage to Otzi's significance to archaeology and his mortality. X marks the spot
When I was a wee child in the early 90s in elementary school, we had a library day each week. When a brand new book about the recent discovery of the "iceman" came to our library, it was so popular with the kids that there was a waiting list to borrow it and the time you could have it was decreased so we could all get a chance. Ötzi was such an amazing discovery! We were so captivated!
7:44 I feel you on that cultural disconnect as someone who also doesn't have indigenous roots in my country. outside of learning a language, i think learning a skill directly tied to your personal family lineage can be really healing! I learned to spin wool a couple of years ago bc i'm descended from a long line of shepherds, all the women in my family until my mum would spin regularly, and the sense of connection and belonging i feel when i spin is truly unmatched, it's something i'd never felt before. i love it so much, and yet i'm still a little conflicted about celebrating it too much bc i'm aware sheep farming was a major tool for colonization in my country (Aotearoa), it's connection to that is undeniable, but the spinning of wool in my family goes back to the old country, my ancestors in scotland spun and wove and knit as well, so i think so long as the harm caused by colonization is recognized it's okay for me to connect with my ancestors in this way. i encourage all non-indigenous folks to also do some research into your family lineage and historic professions (if you can, i'm aware that if you're african-american there's the stamping out of information regarding your family history, this isn't intended to make you feel pressured to do the impossible), it can be a really amazing way to connect with your heritage without falling into ethnonationalist or supremacist circles
Eh, kia ora, cuz. Good on ya for using the proper name, too. I reckon, and a lot've my extended whanau would agree, that it's cool to celebrate your culture so long as that modern celebration doesn't hurt anybody, eh?
Obviously can't speak for all people of Maori descent, here, but most've us definitely just want to be able to do the same, yanno? Good on you for putting that thought in, though, ka pai.
Has the decision been made to change your countries name to Aotearoa? I thank Split Enz for introducing me to the name via "6 months in a leaky boat", which unfortunately is very much about colonization. ☹️
@@2degucitas It's been floated. Lotsa old pakeha folks aren't super on board with it, though. As if there's any history to 'New Zealand' for them.
@@2degucitas its not an official decision at all, but a lot of us are unofficially making the switch as a move to decolonize our language and show our love and appreciation for the roots of our homeland. its why i also refer to myself as Pakeha instead of nz european, it's a name i wear with pride and appreciation for my country's history and hope for our future as a nation, i'd loved to see us grow into a place that serves as an example to the rest of the world for how to treat indigenous peoples. we're not there yet, but i hope to see it someday
@@alliebean3235 As a settler in the US, I really appreciate this post. It can be tough finding that balance between loving your roots and feeling that sense of intruding on the space of the colonized, particularly when you become more aware about it in the states (which I would say the vast majority of Americans don't usually think about this at least on a regular basis). I've had an indigenous professor also recommend introducing small aspects of the historic local nation's daily culture back into your own lifestyle, like eating more of the diet of the people who used to live where you are, which can become a daily acknowledgment of your relationship to the land's history without becoming super appropriative of the culture. That's a little hard in the specific state I'm in, but it's little things like that which reduces anxiety for me between that balance of my own history and that need to acknowledge the land's history. Of course, it should never stop just there (political action is desperately needed in the states), but the little things help too.
For the tattoo on the back of your shoulder, maybe you could do a miniature hand print like the ones found in caves? Those hand prints always felt so typically human to me so it would be a fitting symbol in honour of a man who was such an incredible archaeological and anthropological discovery, while still remembering that at his core he was just as human as everyone else.
I've thought about getting one or two of his tattoos but you went full badass and got all 61! Respect to you bro for doing that especially for your first tattoo experience. Love what you do!
Having your first tattoo experience being getting 61 stick and poke tattoos is a real trial by fire.
A mini series about Ötzi would be super fascinating! Perhaps even rebuilding his hatchet? Lots of interesting things to do~
Some ideas for your shoulder tat:
- a small, fine line, realistic drawing of his copper axe in the place where he was shot
- a stick and poke X in the same style as your other tats
- a dashed line like those used in chemistry to signify an object going into the page. You could even get one on either side of your shoulder and line them up to create the illusion of a line running through your shoulder :)
Loved the vid dude! Very cool
12:30 okay I got an idea: maybe a simple outline of the shape of the arrow wound in red iron oxide. It'll match the other tattoos in its simplicity but still be distinct from them due to color. Iron's associations with blood and rust seems appropriate here.
Dude, now I want to get 5,700 year old tattoos on my borked knee - one set of lines above and one below, or something. Honor Otzi, the absolutely ancient practice of art as healing, and that one time I stepped in a gopher hole at band camp. :D
Loving the Providence commentary. You hit the nail on the head, once saw this aphorism: Drivers in Mass drive like they want to kill you, in Rhode Island they drive like they want to kill themselves. However, having recently moved to Worcester, they sure give Provie a run for their money! Great concept for your tattoos.
Y’all need to visit California I’d love to hear your take on LA drivers. It’s kill or be killed out there man!
None of you lot have ever driven down the m4
Nah Subaru driving Californians in Oregon are the worst
Come see how they drive in New York and Jersey. Just as bed.
Great first tattoos! Since those tattoos are so thin, they'll "blow out" over time, meaning the ink will spread out somewhat. This is part of the appeal of stick and poke/thin line tattoos because they will look very much like they look on Otzi! Also, bleeding is completely normal with tattoos. They just shouldn't be bleeding after you wash them off the first time.
I used to have so many facts about Ötzi memorized from when I was a child, having been captivated by the same morbid curiosity. While he didn't push me to go into archaeology (I like math too much to not do it for a career), he did push me into researching all the other mummies from around the world, and in turn all the cultures from around the world that had mummies, and further on from there.
Thanks to this one nearly 6,000 yead old coppersmith, I learned just how big and just how cool the ancient world was, and that has been a lifelong passion ever since.
Thanks Ötzi, I couldn't have done it without you.
Loved this video, Milo. Big time nostalgia and big time interesting IRL lore. 10/10, and unbelievably hyped for the full miniseries.
Out of curiosity what do you do as a career
@@toast6375 Electrical engineering, though I'm perpetually tempted to go and re-specialize back into nuclear, or go full academic and do radiochemistry or nuclear physics.
Funnily, radiochemistry would indirectly put me back in line with archaeology, as it would qualify me to be the lab monkey that runs tests on finds to see how old they are.
I hope Otzi sees how much people love him even thousands of years later. His body makes me so sad, like a funeral viewing. He was such an adorable old man. It's one of those, why would you tear up over ancient hominids. Otzi! Otzi is why, his eyes look so warm in the recreation. Makes me so sad he was murdered, fought for his life, and left in the cold. I'm glad we were able to find him and he's not lying in the cold somewhere, alone on a mountain. That he's with people who absolutely adore him. If he was buried properly I wouldn't feel so bad he was left alone and in the cold.
what if he was shot and left for dead because he was a murderer and rapist?
@@r2Kd0ugernaut strongest pessimist
also he died of blood loss from an arrow wound, and was half-beaten to death, possibly by multiple people before being left for dead. he was with a friend at the time, and is presumed to have died of bloodloss because his friend wasn't able to staunch the bleeding. he was known to have immediately killed/severely wounded two people prior, and given the style of damage dealt to his limbs, most likely did it in self defence since only two people vs 4 others sounds more like barely surviving an ambush rather than trying to ambush someone. while there's no evidence he was a rapist, if he was a warrior he most certainly would have fallen into the moral definition of a murderer, and a venerated, experienced one that that, especially amongst the people of his community. if anything the whole thing looks like a band from a neighbouring, warring community attempted and succeeded to kill what was effectively a champion of the region in a pyrrhic victory that left multiple severely wounded/dead
This might be a wild suggestion, but have you looked into scarification for the wound mark? It has some really rich historical/ritual significance!
Maybe try arrow wounds scars - as if he had managed to live and it healed.
@@genenerd1984-alt yooooo that would be sick. Probably very painful but definitely a stark image.
As a tattooer this video is a nice surprise! In my own research, I’ve found there’s not an abundance on ancient tattoo meanings. What did they mean if they meant anything? Were they earned? If so what feats or accomplishments did the person have to do to get them?
If this topic is of interest to you I highly recommend also listening to “Reinventing the Tattoo Podcast Ep. 1” where Aaron Deter-Wolf goes in depth with his findings on this subject.
As always great video man! 👌
Thanks for the podcast tip!
Aaron Deter-Wolf was one of my professors in College and a personal friend. He doesn't get enough credit and it bothers me that people, when they make videos like this don't acknowledge him or other people who do the research... If your really interesting in Aaron's work pick up the book he co-edited with Lars Krutak, Ancient Ink. It's got a bunch of authors and their articles in there as well as native groups such as Inuit who still practice their ancient techniques and traditions.
It’s hard to know what something meant 3000 years ago unless it was Sumer (in which case we have written records), or Yamna, in which case we can reconstruct it from what the later cultures did and still do.
@@tompatterson1548 idk Egyptian mummies covered in tattoos with the same symbols found on statuary of which we have written egyptian records on going back nearly 4000 years is a thing too... and we have records of traditions given to us by peoples like the Naga in South East Asia about their traditional techniques and meaning dating back as far as their oral traditions go. Same for Inuit groups and other North American Natives who have unending practices dating back until time immemorial. Thats just to name a few groups and peoples out of a world that has always used markings to differentiate ourselves. Obviously some of them we can only interpret the meaning but it isn't a great "mystery" nor is it an unstudied subject. I know I studied it in college as part of my history degree.
I was thinking about that. It is a nice thought. On the other hand, I imagine these tattoos probably marked something hard won/earned.
Quick tip for future tattoos: Second Skin/Saniderm is much more easily removed in/after a shower, it softens the adhesive 👍🏻
Hey I love that you "took us along" on a tattoo adventure. I think it would be cool and interesting to do a "Field Trip" video series as well maybe? It could be fun, from visiting sites, to recreating old wold tech and rituals or ceremonies.
This channel is probably the best find that RUclips recommended for me this year. Love the channel, and keep up the incredibly fun and interesting content!
you should see his tik tok too!
@@hypatiakovalevskayasklodow9195 I may try to check that out too
@@alexcrane1397 Highly reccommend, Mona Lisa :-)
@@hypatiakovalevskayasklodow9195 I’ll need to get tik-tok, but it sounds worth it
I remember back in the dark ages when I was in school we actually visited the museum he was shown at - I remember staring at this guy that died so long ago through what felt like 5 layers of glass and thinking that I want to know all there is to know about him - cannot wait to see a video on him from you. He sure has left an impact. (And mad dips on getting the tattoos done traditionally, amazing!)
I'm a history student majoring in anthropology and I'm so happy that there are people like you guys around because many people in my courses believe in these ridiculous conspiracies, but I can't say anything because it will start a whole thing that is not at all related to what we're learning. Thank-you
Some of them might be true. What are you going to say?? Why is your opinion better then any others?? You will find out after you are just a student majoring in anthropology. Maybe they are just conspiracies and maybe those other people do believe to hard. I'm not sure exactly which "conspiracies" you are talking about but there is plenty of evidence that shows there were civilizations that outdate the oldest we officially recognize that were also much more advanced then we think. I mean unless your talking about alien conspiracies or something like that then you are far to closed minded for anthropology and will just hinder discoveries.
Milo, you legend. I’m 48 years old, have been fascinated with Ötzi for years, and have read about everything I can find about the discovery. My wife teaches elementary school and once a year I’m a “special guest” and give my little Ötzi talk. Most of the little kids find the story as fascinating as I do.
As someone who remembers the days of, AOL AltaVista, and Netscape, Milo referring to 2004 as "proto internet" is almost as adorable as baby archeologist Milo.
I remember watching World of Warcraft meme videos in 2004 lol
PLEASE do a series on Otzi! i actually had a very similar upbringing with archaeology that you had, seeing the what looked like melted orange flesh to the shape of muscle and bone, the arm completely contorted obviously trying to tell a story of his death, and the wildly interesting things we’ve learned from it all made me interested in archaeology and i’ve just now rekindled that passion through your videos.
I really love the way Milo talks about archeology, like you can tell that he truly loves what he does. I bet there are too many archeology professors to count that do droning, boring lectures with no real substance. But Milo talks about everything with passion and humor, he reminds me of my 10th grade US history teacher, in that he doesn't just talk about the subject, he explains how certai archeological finds effected the science as a whole. Love ya Milo keep doing what you do.
My dad worked on the Nova documentary on Otzi, As a kid I got to meet the sculptor of the replica and go to Colds Spring Harbor to meet James Watson! So cool to see someone else loving and being fascinated by Otzi almost a decade later!
As an anthro major who's now a tattooist, this video made my day, love your content!
Milo, for a future feature on Otzi it might be fun to follow the teeth enamel isotopes that traced his birth place back to present day Italy (you may be related to Otzi!) and then recreate his footsteps and what may have been his adventures which led him to get the tattoos, the valuable axe (and how it upended current thought on metallurgy of the time), his clothes and insulated “shoes” and his wondrous tool kit, including the half finished arrows etc. Add the parasites and diseases/tooth wear and tear and give us a look into the real struggles of a person over 5000 years ago and the whodunnit involved in his attempt to escape across the alps only to be killed with an arrow. (Why didn’t the perpetrators take that incredibly valuable copper axe? I wonder what modern item could be equated with Otzi’s axe in terms of financial and practical value)
OK BUT LIKE, IMAGINE THO IF HE ACTUALLY MIGHT BE DISTANTLY RELATED TO OTZI!!!! He'd literally be studying his great-great-a lot more greats-grandpa!!
when you mentioned that you were considering another tattoo on your shoulder i immediately thought of some sort of spiral or radial pattern- i think it would pair really nicely with the linear designs of the rest of the tattoos while still standing out :)
Hi! Palaeolithic archaeologist (student) here. I immediately thought of putting a stone point, complete with proper flake scars and shading like a proper stone tool illustration, on your shoulder!
You should absolutely get the quote "As you are, so once was I." tattooed... BUT THE PERIOD IS WHERE OTZI WAS SHOT!
I sometimes surprise even myself
That’s an amazing idea 🙌🏻
I've heard that quote before. Very possibly from this channel. Can you tell me the context of it? Cause I forgot.
Don't think that's possible. The wound is on the top of the back of the left shoulder. I don't see how you could fit the words so that the period is where the wound is without either making them unreadable small or writing them right-to-left (maybe upside-down).
@@Saphia_ it's a short epitaph to be written on tombstones
That’s fuckin great!
That has to have also been a cool experience for the artist. A chance to recreate the oldest tattoo's known to modern man? I have a friend who is a tattoo artist that I know would leap at the chance to connect to the literal ancient origin of his practice.
The curiosity of the copper axe being present with Otzi has always made me think that 1 of 2 things had to be true. 1 he used his remaining moments to escape to that mountain top and his pursuers just gave up pursuit due to weather or 2 it was extremely personal. A betrayal, in which any evidence would link the attacker(s) to Otzi and raise questions. But my action movies brain says scout shot and beat before he could warm others but still tells it from the mountain top "beacons are lit, Gondor calls for aid!" Style is also an option.
I always found Otzi interesting but years ago when I found out about him I either couldn’t find much or had completely forgotten everything I learned. But it’s funny how I went from not liking Indiana Jones and the dull early history lessons in school (except for 6th grade, shout out to my history teacher that year who definitely had a hand in kindling my love for Mesopotamia) to being stoked about the newest movie and hyperfixating about archeology and its mysterious finds and the unknown all because of this channel reawakening my interest in archaeology and ancient civilizations (especially ancient civilizations)
I 'dig' the dedication. And thanks for everything! I pursued a STEM career but always had a soft spot for humanities back in school. Thank you for taking me right back to my grade 4 class when the teacher discussed natural mummification and taught us about Otzi. It warms my heart.
Sad that there is a perceived division between STEM and the Humanities. The reality is that you can’t have one without the other. So glad you are out there appreciating both. Preach!
You could combine them and become a bioarcheologists or help with the experimental archeology research as a consultant one my friends is using their music degree that way
Have you seen the Siberian "Ice Princess" tattoos? I'd recommend looking into them if you'd like more historically related tattoos from prehistory!
Oooh, yes, glad you brought that up. So damn beautiful.
Hers are so cool. I would love a twisted deer.
I am planning to get one of the ones on her once I save up for my next tattoo! They’re so so beautiful.
As an American, how per usual we are objectified as specimens in often unmarked boxes, I greatly appreciate the humanization you do.
I love that you got tattoos that are so connected to what you are passionate about. Very cool.
Plot Twist: Ötzi possessed magical powers in life, and by getting all the same tattoos Milo has inherited his sorcerous gift and has to use them to fight off the impending invasion of supernatural forces from the bygone age when monsters and gods roamed the earth instead of our thoughts.
this is canon now
I love these Videos, the field of Archeology needs more people who make it appealing to a broader audience and what you are doing here is a great service to the entire archeological community.
I’ve been thinking of getting Ötzi tattoos for years, and you’re out here living the dream. So cool!! And a full-length Ötzi video like you suggest would be awesome
This kids passion is inspirational AF
I love how he says "take a look at the ones we have" like getting tattooed with the 61 ötzi tattoos was a shared experience
It’s always interesting to learn how somebody discovered their passion. Until now, I just assumed you watched Disney’s Atlantis as a kid and realized that you had to be an archeologist too
tbh i love this vlog style! also how cool that the tattoos were done in a more traditional style than with a machine!
It's cool to hear how special Ötzi is to you. I have to admit that out of all the museums that my school took trips to, the Ötzi exhibit is still stuck in my mind. It truly takes your breath away when trying to conceptualise of how remarkable this find is! Also, cool tats!
The first thing that came to mind when you were talking about the arrow wound was a little target/bullseye. It's simple and geometric and might go well with the other ones
And they were even hand done, like Otzi would have gotten them done. Bravo!
I had the National Geographic that had Otzi in it and I must have re-read that article about 50 times.
Love that you went the extra step of getting these hand tapped. Great commitment to the concept.
tbh whether you're into this stuff or not, everyone who has a chance should go to the iceman museum. it is without a doubt the most interesting and well-laid-out museum i've ever been to
This is amazing dude! I fell in love with Otzi when I saw a documentary about him on TV several years ago. When they talked about his last meal, lifestyle, how he likely died a slow painful death, and even his eye color it made me emotional in a weirdly existential way. Having to grapple with the uncertainty and finality of death and what comes after is a very 'human" experience and I have to admit if people found my mummified remains, studied me, etc in 6000 years that would make me proud. If I were to somehow know about it, that is. It seems like Otzi was very proud of being such a decorated warrior in his time and I like to think he would also be proud to see that we are not only interested in his life and who he was as a person, but he also hasn't been forgotten. I'm sure that, especially for people who lived that far in the past, their best hope of being remembered after death was through oral history via relatives for maybe another hundred years. If they only knew!