

Otzi's hand was deeply cut 3 to 8 days before he died, and researchers think it's possible that this moss was used to staunch his wound, and was transferred to his food from the dressings on his hand. Sphagnum moss has a specific ethnographic use as dressings for wounds because it is soft and absorbent. It's a bog moss and the only likely location within walking distance of where he died, is the broad, low-lying valley of Vinschgau, where Otzi resided for his adult life. They claim that the motivation for their morally outrageous acts is a simple wish to gain attention from the crush-ee. Sphagnum imbricatum Hornsch: Sphagnum moss doesn't grow in the South Tyrol where Otzi died. A character noted for their obsession with another character.The only outcrop of marble in the vicinity of Otzi's body is on the Pfelderer Tal, suggesting that at least on one of his last journeys, Otzi climbed into the Alps westwards up the Pfelderer Tal. Hymenostylium recurvirostrum This species of moss is known to hang about on marble.

The presence of them inside Otzi probably came from their use as food-wrapping and suggests that Otzi wrapped his last meal south of where he died. Vanzetti and colleagues based their interpretations of Otzi as a formal burial on the placement of objects around Otzis body, the presence of unfinished weaponry, and the mat, which they argue was a funeral shroud. These two species of moss are found on lime-rich, shady rocks in woodlands, growing close to and south of where Otzi was found, but not north. Most scholars have agreed that Otzi was the victim of an accident or a murder and that he died on the mountaintop where he was discovered. Neckera complanata and Anomodon viticulosus.
