５０００年前のミイラ「アイスマン」、毛髪なく肌の色濃かった可能性

【ベルリンＡＦＰ＝時事】アルプスの氷河で１９９１年に発見されたミイラ「エッツィー」が、これまで考えられていたよりも肌の色が濃く、死亡時には頭髪が皆無、もしくはほぼなかったとの研究結果が１６日、発表された。（写真は以前の研究結果を基に制作された「エッツィー」）
　通称「アイスマン」として知られるエッツィーは、イタリア北部・南チロルのエッツタール・アルプスの標高３２１０メートルの高地で発見された男性のミイラ。約５０００年前に死亡したと考えられている。
　当初の研究では、東欧地域に広がる大草原地帯の遊牧民とのつながりを示唆する遺伝子配列があるとされた。だが、独マックス・プランク進化人類学研究所の最新の研究によると、エッツィーには、アナトリア地域の初期の農民と共通するゲノム配列が確認された。
　当初の遺伝子サンプルは、より新しい年代のものが混ざっていたとされ、これが誤った結果をもたらしたとみられる。
　外見についても、これまで考えられていたのとは異なる可能性があるという。肌の色は氷の中で長期保存されたために濃くなったと考えられていたが、もともとの色だったとの見方が示された。
　また、遺伝子配列からは毛が抜けやすい傾向にあったことが見て取れ、成人時には既に頭髪がなかった可能性もある。
　「比較的明確な研究結果であるため、見つかったミイラに毛髪がなかった理由も説明できる」と研究論文の共同執筆者、アルベルト・ジンク氏は指摘した。
　これまでの研究でエッツィーは、身長１６０センチ、体重は５０キロで、死亡時の年齢は４５歳前後と推定されている。胸郭と左の肩甲骨の間にある大血管が矢で切断されたことで命を落としたと考えられている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/08/18-16:24）

Oetzi, the iceman mummy of the Alps, had darker skin than previously thought and was likely bald or almost bald when he died, the study by Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology said.
He also likely stemmed from a relatively isolated group with little contact with other Europeans, and had ancestors who arrived directly from Anatolia.
Oetzi's remains were found in September 1991 in South Tyrol, the northern Italian region where he was also believed to have roamed.
Mummified in ice, he was discovered by two German hikers in the Oetztal Alps, 3,210 metres (10,500 feet) above sea level, more than 5,000 years after his death.
Since then, scientists have used hi-tech, non-invasive diagnostics and genomic sequencing to penetrate his mysterious past.
Initial analysis of his genome had earlier suggested that he had genetic traces of steppe herders from eastern Europe.
But Max Planck's scientists said the latest results no longer support this finding.
Rather, they believed the original sample to have been contaminated with modern DNA that led to the erroneous finding.
Advances in technology have also allowed for a more specific look into Oetzi's past.
Among the hundreds of early European people who lived at the same time as Oetzi and whose genomes are now available, Oetzi's genome has more ancestry in common with early Anatolian farmers than any of his European counterparts, said the institute's team.
- 'Almost no hair' -
Johannes Krause, head of the Department of Archaeogenetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology who co-authored the study, said his team was very surprised to find no traces of eastern European steppe herders in the most recent analysis of the Iceman genome.
The proportion of hunter-gatherer genes in Oetzi's genome is also very low. Genetically, his ancestors seem to have arrived directly from Anatolia without mixing with hunter gatherer groups, he said.
The scientists believe therefore that he likely stemmed from a relatively isolated population that had very little contact with other European groups.
The team said previous ideas about the iceman's appearance may also have been inaccurate.
Scientists had previously thought the iceman's skin had darkened in the ice, but it may actually have been his original skin colour, said the team.
Oetzi's genes also show a predisposition to baldness and, rather than having long, thick hair on his head, he is now believed to already have lost most of his hair as an adult.
This is a relatively clear result and could also explain why almost no hair was found on the mummy, said anthropologist Albert Zink, co-author of the study.
In previous studies over the years, scientists have determined that Oetzi died around the age of 45, was about 1.60 metres (five foot, three inches) tall and weighed 50 kilos (110 pounds).
He suffered a violent death, with an arrow severing a major blood vessel between the rib cage and the left shoulder blade.