June 3, 2026 / 9:41 AM EDT
/ CBS/AFP
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Yeast has been growing in the guts of a frozen mummy called Oetzi the Iceman for thousands of years, scientists have discovered, telling AFP they used it to make a sourdough bread.More than 5,300 years ago — before the Egyptian pyramids were built — Oetzi was strolling through the Alps on the border of Austria and Italy when he was killed by an arrow in the back.He remained frozen in the ice until two German hikers stumbled across his mummified remains in 1991 in the northern Italian region of South Tyrol.Since then, his stunningly well-preserved remains have been kept at the same temperature — minus six degrees Celsius — as his icy tomb.This has allowed scientists to carefully study Oetzi, who offers an incredibly rare window into ancient human life.For the latest research, published in the Microbiome journal on Wednesday, an Italy-based team found evidence that both ancient and modern microbial life remain active in the frozen body."What we didn't expect to find was yeast," lead study author Mohamed Sarhan of the Eurac Research institute in the Italian city of Bolzano told AFP.
The 5300-year-old mummy known as "Oetzi" is seen shortly after its arrival in the Archeology Museum in Bolzano in 1991.
